His Life
by Siknmagh
Summary: There are 2 boys. Both have a scar. only one was victorious. Let's follow His Life.
1. Chapter 1

-1Disclaimer for the entire story: Don't own, don't make money, do entertain.

_**His Life**_

Inside a comfortable house on Gryffindor drive, there was a set of twins under the care of ms. Celina Cambridge. Ms. Cambridge was approached by a Mr. and Mrs. Potter to baby-sit their children, for they were planning to go to Gringotts to work out a few financial businesses to ensure the future of their children in the unfortunate event of their demise.

Celina baby-sat every time the Potters went out to regulate their business assets at Gringotts. These 'pre-demise arrangements' only meant that the Potters would be at Gringotts for a few hours more.

These twins were Harry and Corvin Potter, born on July 31st 1980, currently over a year ago. Harry was born first, on exactly 13.13 hours, with Corvin following his brother's path on exactly 14.00 hours.

They were special. Not because they were twins, but because they gained the heritage of their parents: the ability to perform magic. That's right, they were wizards, just as their parents are wizard and witch.

Due to the fact they (the Potters) were under a secrecy spell known as the fidelius, they couldn't just hire any nanny. The nanny had to be magical. Fortunately, they already had Celina for this; a young witch with a good heart and a grade in healing and 'interaction with young people'.

The Fidelius charm worked with a Secret Keeper: the person who knew what the secret was and the only one able to share that information. Unfortunately, said Secret Keeper decided that this day would be the perfect day to inform the enemy of the location of the Potters.

Voldemort sat in his throne when a Death Eater approached him. "Master, I bring news. I know the location of the Potters. It also seems James and Lily are currently at Gringotts." the Death Eater said while bowing to his Lord. "That doesn't say very much, now does it? You have yet to give me the location. Do not let me grow impatient..." Voldemort replied. The Death Eater shuddered. He didn't want to have another cruciatus curse on him, so he quickly replied. "The Potters home can be found at 1 Gryffindor Drive, Godric's Hollow."

Voldemort laughed forebodingly. "How fitting. Gryffindors living on Godric Gryffindor's lands. Too bad Slytherin's Heir is going to make sure they know there are no places to hide! They will lose their 'bundles of hope' today! Let us go immediately!" Voldemort bellowed towards the 12 Death Eaters that were present to hear the location of attack.

-

Celina saw the skies become grey and dark rather quickly. 'This is not good... I have a bad feeling about this...'. Her suspicions were confirmed when the protective wards around the house were viciously bombarded with heavy spells. 'The kids! They have to get out of here, quickly!'. Celina ran up the stairs towards the toy chamber, where both Harry and Corvin were playing with some animated plush toys. As she looked outside, she saw the golden glow of a dome dissipate, signaling the falling of the last wards. Not a second later, the door was 'opened'. 'More likely blow off its hinges' Celina thought sarcastically. Dreading every moment the footsteps closed in, she drew her wand and took a low, protective stance. Not a moment too soon, as the door to the room splintered inwards. Celina erected a shield to protect the boys and herself from the debris. She was not prepared to meet the face of Lord Voldemort himself.

She decided she would die. A memory from her grandmother came to mind:

"_Ahh, I see you wish to work with children that are not yet ready to be educated in the arts of magic. How noble of you! Not many can do so with the passion and conviction you display. These are dark times, Celina... Remember, the life of a child is invaluable. Value it above everything else... Yes... You would be able to use this... Celina, dear. Listen carefully. When you are in a position where you are certain you will perish and in the presence of a child, use this spell which I am about to teach you. It will take the energy you generate when crossing over and convert it into a shield, able to withstand the most lethal of attacks."_

She turned her back on Voldemort, deciding to use the spell. It could save the life of a child, even from Him. The problem was there were 2 children present: Corvin, who was huddling himself with his back towards her, shivering in Voldemort's presence, and Harry, who was looking straight into her eyes, standing proud and tall, or at least as much as a 1 year old could. The image would be hilarious, but the look in the great emerald-colored eyes told her all she needed to know: '_Protect my family_'. Thus, her choice was made.

She began chanting the spell. It sounded like a reassuring lullaby in an unknown language:

**Eco taro hanmiri casurn**

**Imteri acola tornis lera**

**Seceri lirest areni deliderum**

**Solarome aski astreto asesa**

**Corvin Armonde Potter**

She repeated the song 3 times to finish the spell.

Voldemort heard her starting to sing while picking up the closest child and rocking him back and forth in comfort. 'Hah, like a song to soothe the brat will work. Already, she's given up. She's not much fun...' he thought. "Well, well, well... Already giving up I see... Don't worry, girl. You will be followed shortly by the brat. After all, I'm not _that_ heartless, to separate you."

He heard her stop singing and took it as a queue to fire his second favorite spell. "**Avada Kedavra**." he said. A green light erupted from Voldemort's wand and hit Celina in her back. In a final spasm, Corvin was forced away from the falling body. Harry saw the green jet of light his Celina, saw her eyes go blank, and saw Corvin being rolled to the side, where Celina's wand dropped, bathing in a very shallow orange-ish glow, which dissipated as soon as it came.

**HAS SEEN DEATH...**

"One down, 2 to go..." Voldemort said with obvious happiness in his voice. He saw the one year old on the right walking over and stepping in front of the other boy, looking up defiantly, without any trace of fear. Voldemort aimed.

**SMELLS FEAR NOT OWN...**

**ANTICIPATION...**

"**Avada Kedavra**." Voldemort said in a gleeful voice.

**DEATH COMES NEARER...**

Harry saw the beam coming closer and closer towards his head...

**NO...**

The green spell reflected in Harry's eyes as if they were blazing, burning with raw power... The spell almost struck Harry's head...

**NO! DEATH SHALL NOT COME! DEATH _WILL_ NOT COME!**

The spell made contact with Harry. What happened next would be forever be engraved into the minds of the Death Eaters standing guard outside. A feral roar was heard coming from the house, shaking everything in a mile radius. The entire house that was above the toy chamber disappeared in a bright green explosion, rocking the foundations of all houses in the block, shattering anything brittle.

The Death Eaters didn't believe the sight. It was like the top half of the house just vanished. Nobody saw their Lord as well. Deciding to cut their losses, one of the Death Eaters cast **Morsmordre**,making a skull with a snake tongue appear in neon green above the Potter residence before Apperating out like the wind. The others soon followed.

Corvin kept his eyes closed. He felt miserable. This person that came into the house felt cold. Dark. Wrong. The person made him shudder in fear. Then, a mighty roar and a big bang later, the fear was gone. He opened his eyes... Wide... The house was gone. A wand was next to his hand. 'Daddy's stick?' he thought. Picking the wand up, Corvin started to do what any normal 1 year old would do in his situation: cry. Cry like hell and hope mummy came around soon.

She came. After about 3 dozens of Aurors, who were dumbstruck at the site before them. "Harry! Corvin! Celina!" Lily screamed while running into the part-ruins without thought after getting over the initial shock. She found them all in the toy chamber. Celina was lying lifeless, face-down in the middle of the room. Corvin was less than 2 feet away from Celina's body, clutching the wand. And Harry... Harry was in the far corner of the chamber with a peaceful smile on his face, lying unconscious in the shadows.

After making sure both of her boys were fine, Lily calmed Corvin down, which resulted in Corvin falling asleep. Both boys were checked for injuries. Both had received a scar. Corvin had 2 cuts that resulted in a perfect image of a crescent moon on his left forearm, where Harry got a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

-

"Are you sure? There's nothing you can do about it?"

"No ma'am. It seems the blocks on his magic, like you created them, were ripped away, together with the most of his ability. We believe it was due to severe traumatic shock. His magical level is now barely above that of a powerful squib."

"Oh no... Will he ever recover?"

"Well... If he can get over this trauma, he might be able to gain enough to become a normal wizard, but he'll probably never reach above the amount of potential that you _hadn't_ blocked, which is to say... Limiting his magical career chances severely. Add to that the possible brain damage that comes with trauma's of this seriousness, he might not even be able to communicate normally anymore. I'm sorry, Mrs. Potter..."

"And what about Corvin? Is he like that as well?"

"No. Corvin is almost the opposite: his blocks were dissolved due to an unknown spell effect that made him generate a shield to block _any_ lethal assault with his freed magical capacity, which is probably what made him survive in the first place. My prediction, Mrs. Potter, is that your son here, actually survived the killing curse due to this spell and his magical capacity. We rebound his magic, so we won't be having too much of accidental magic around, though..."

_The original power block was supposed to suppress 40 percent of Harry and Corvin's power. Corvin's block was reinstated as a 2 level block: 1 for the original 40 percent and 1 temporary one (until he was 11) for another 30 percent. Harry's block was believed to be removed due to the traumatic effect triggering accidental magic, removing the block with it's contents. Little did they know; Harry was protected by the burst of 'accidental magic', giving the curse nowhere to latch on but the power block. This caused the block to become almost indefinable and locked over 95 percent away, effectively making him look like a squib. Harry could feel the removed magic, making him feel lonely and thinking it was unnecessary to speak to anyone._

-

The conversation between the healer and Lily Potter wasn't a very comforting one. However, based on this conversation, combined with the results of the Aurors' investigation led to a startling discovery: Voldemort was there, fired multiple killing curses and just... Vanished without a trace. No magical residue of other spells, no Apparition signature, nothing. It's as if He just disappeared from the world.

Naturally, this news brought cheers to many around the world, where glasses were heaved. "To Corvin Potter! The Boy-Who-Lived!" was chorused throughout the world.

-

"What do you think, James? The kid isn't going to recover his magic, nor will he be able to have a decent magical life like this. He never spoke a word since then. Next to Corvin, he's a bit of an embarrassment. Do you think we should let him go to the muggle world to have a muggle life?" Lily asked her husband, with a little concern for both their reputation, as well as a little bit for the fact a squib is very looked down upon in the wizarding world.

"Well, we'd better make sure he himself doesn't remember the magical world, then. You got relatives over there, right? Let's get them to take care of Harry. Should be easy enough..." James said, pondering the course of action towards Harry.

_Too bad sentient magic with unquestioned loyalty to their master doesn't react well towards intrusions._

James and Lily went to nr 4 Privet Drive and laid a sleeping 2 year old Harry on the doorstep. "**Obliviate**" James said, aiming his wand towards Harry's forehead.

**NO. MASTER WILL NOT FORGET. MASTER WILL LEARN!**

Harry opened his eyes just in time to see the light green spell hit his head, eyes filled with a blazing emerald color. When the spell hit, his eyes glazed, indicating the successful effect of the spell. James and Lily apparated away without a second look.

Harry's glazed eyes refocused, while a steady stream of green magic surrounded his head. His memories of the past 2 years were locked away to be recovered later. The magic that countered the removal of memories was also affecting Harry's mind in such a way, that knowledge would be far better remembered and recollected. Doing so drained Harry of all magic accessible to him at that time.

**MASTER NEEDS REST. WHEN IT IS TIME, MASTER WILL KNOW.**

With that, Harry fell asleep, only to be awakened by a screech from his aunt, who found him on her doorstep with a note explaining the situation _very_ vaguely.

It became apparent to Petunia and Vernon Dursley very soon, that Harry understood their words quite good at an early age, combined with his ability to walk on his own. This resulted in the effective 'little' chores list. From only 3 weeks after being 'taken in', Harry was already forced to clean the house, keep up the garden and cook every meal, only to receive corporal punishment when something wasn't done perfectly, and mental abuse constantly.

The routine of corporal punishment and malnourishment were increased after Petunia got so frustrated with the unruly hair of Harry, that she millimetered his hair with the exception of a bang to cover the scar. Overnight, Harry's hair had grown back, making the Dursleys think they weren't harsh enough.

-

Harry is 5 years old, coming on 6. Currently, he was not the most lucky guy.

"Boy! What did I tell you? No breaks until the entire garden is done!" Vernon yelled while grabbing Harry in his collar and throwing him into the living room. Harry fell onto the floor, shoulder first, with an audible snap. After a week in the cupboard without food and barely any water, and only 1 toilet trip a day, Harry wasn't standing very solidly on his feet, much less was he able to keep his focus and strength to weed the garden entirely.

Harry thought 'What did you expect, mr. Wiggling Wail? I'm not really 'in shape' thanks to you...' while sitting up, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. Pain was no stranger to him. He looked up to Vernon just as he was given a hard slap on his temple making him see stars while flying into the wall, dislocating his other shoulder. Wincing again, Harry thought 'Why me? I didn't do anything wrong, and I try as hard as I can, but nothing will stop this punishment. I wish I was in a place I can call a safe home...'

**AS YOU WISH.**

Just as Harry prepared himself for the incoming hit by Vernon when his vision went blurry and Harry passed out.

Vernon was about to hit his nephew a second time when the kid's eyes glowed up for a fraction of time and the kid just disappeared with only the sound of a gush of wind.

-

Harry stirred. He opened his eyes and felt pain in both his shoulders. He noticed he was in a forest of some kind. Not a regular forest, but a... Different one... It felt not-normal.

The trees were a darker shade of green then those in Surrey, where the leaves matched the grass in the mowed lawns in color.Also, the trees towered up to the sky, with a very dense roof. There was plenty of space between the trees though, which was filled up with different patches of grass, moss and bushes of different sizes, varying between ankle-high to up to 8 feet.

Harry heard a twig snap and looked in the direction of the snap. A man in a shimmering dark green cloak approached him. Just as he looked up into the eyes of the man, Harry passed out in exhaustion.

-

The man was returning to his peaceful little cabin as he always did in the daily routine of a summer day, when he heard a rustling of leaves and a small thud. He turned around with speed and grace not normal to a human being and saw a little child stirring, just off the path. He immediately noticed the swollen shoulder on the right and the dislocated one on the left. As he was walking up to the child, trying not to startle it, a twig snapped under his boot and the child looked into his direction. 'Oh my... Those are the eyes... He has the eyes!'. The man saw the child pass out. 'Heh... If he is one of them, then he will need little help from me. Let's see how he learns his ways in nature...'

After healing the child's injuries, the man moved towards his little abode with a little smile on his face. 'I have something to do again! Let's see how he does!'.

-

Harry woke up. The first thing he noticed was the lack of pain in his entire body. Second was a little group of snakes coming closer.

What do you thththink? The great onesss would appreccciate a meal like thththisss, right? the black little adder said. Harry was surprised to be able to understand the snakes. 'Why me?' Harry thought as the rattlesnake hissed He'sss awake. Maybe we ssshould kill him now and get him to thththe great onesss.. Harry certainly didn't like the sound of that. Why me? I ssswear, sssomeone is probably laughing hisss asssss offff right now... Harry said, or actually hissed out loud. The three snakes were startled. He ssspeaksss! He ssspeaksss our tongue! the black adder hissed in excitement. The Boa constrictor whirled over Harry's body and bound his upper body with his mouth near Harry's ear.

Do not move, young SSSpeaker. We ssshall guide you to thththe great onesss to be judged. the Boa hissed. Yeah! FFFollow usss! the adder hissed excitedly while slithering away. Harry glanced towards the Boa's head to see it nod and Harry followed the black adder and the rattlesnake.

The man watched the interaction with eyebrows high up his hairline. 'He speaks as well! Parseltongue! At such a young age no less! Interesting...' The man's face lit up as the child walked away following the snakes. 'No more worries for the boy if the snakes are going to bring him in front of the others to be judged.' the man pondered while walking back his home.

-

As the company of snakes and human reached a clearing in the forest, the Boa hissed Great onesss, we humbly requessst your presssenccce for a judgement on a SSSpeaker.. A few moments later, 4 Egyptian Asps appeared. All were about 4 feet long. A SSSpeaker you sssay? Long time sssinccce we seen a worthththy one... The lassst young SSSpeaker wasss... Disssappointing...' one of the Asps hissed. Harry looked at the 4 Asps and a ridiculous thought he hissed out loud: Great onesss my asssss! Compared to thisss Boa, they're like midgetsss... The snakes were a bit taken back by this statement. The Boa reacted first by contracting and hissing SSShow ressspect to our leadersss, however the contractions were ceased immediately, combined with being slack-jawed as far as a snake could be when all 4 Asps began hissing in a way that could only be taken as laughter. I-I believe thisss SSSpeaker needsss-sss further j-judgement! the most right asp said, still shaking in laughter. The others could only nod in agreement. After getting themselves back together, one of the Asps hissed Leader of the Sour, approach! Your judgement isss required!. A Beautiful green snake with a red and silver pattern across his head approached and hissed You requesssted my presssenccce, great onesss?. Yesss, we did. We need you to judge hisss mind and sssoul. one Asp hissed. The Sour-snake nodded and focused his eyes upon Harry.

Sour-snakes were known for their magical ability to read one's mind with a magical form known as Legilimency, as well as see a soul.

The Sour-snake engaged his ability and effortlessly penetrated Harry's entire mind and soul. His life with the Dursleys flashed by and the soul looked utterly corrupted.

**INTRUDER!**

Just as the snake was about to look into the first years, the snake's mind was captured viciously. On the outside, the Sour-snake shuddered violently.

**SNAKE! YOU NOT ALLOWED HERE! REASON?**

The snake shivered in fear of the roaring demand. Keeping his cool as much as he could manage, he hissed The SSSpeaker isss being judged in mind and sssoul.

**MASTER SOUL IS PURE AND CAGED. MUST LEARN MIND DEFENCE!**

The unbreakable grip on the mind of the snake was released and with a closer look, the snake noticed the corrupt cage, containing the true soul.

**MASTER MUST LEARN MIND DEFENSE!**

The words echoed in the mind of the snake before he was ejected from Harry's mind quite forcefully. The snake shivered. He then turned to the great ones. Great onesss. I have fffound mossst disssturbing thththings. Thththe SSSpeaker isss needed to learn mind defenssse, asss demanded by Sassisss.. The Asps gasped while the three others looked confused. Very well then. Teachchch thththe SSSpeaker mind defenssse. Sassisss hasss ssspoken and thththisss SSSpeaker isss proven worthththy. Meeting disssmisssssed! The Asps left after this statement and Harry looked confused as the Boa released him and moved away with his 2 companions. Harry turned to the only one left. SSSo... What am I ssssupposssed to do now, intruder offf mindsss? What shshshould I call you anywaysss? I don't plan on calling you intruder offf mindsss every time. It'sss too long offf a name... Harry hissed. The Sour-snake hissed in mirth. I am thththe Leader of thththe SSSour-sssnakesss. I don't carry a ssspecccific name. Hmm... Then SSSoury it isss. Harry replied. He cocked his head to the side and nodded decisively. Yup. You look like a SSSoury. SSSo, where to now? Harry hissed.

The snake looked torn between being belittled and being in fear for the wrath of Sassisss. Finally, he hissed FFFollow me. You will learn mind defenssse fffrom me for the coming 3 moonsss. You will offf courssse sssupply yourssselfff withth fffood.

Harry looked down. But SSSoury, I'm not usssed to grow up in a ffforessst and asss sssuchchch, I don't know what'sss edible and what isss not.. At that time, the little 3 feet long black adder came along. SSSo the SSSpeaker needsss a guide, eh? Me and my partnersss can help withthth thththat, afffter all, _we_ fffound him fffirst! the adder hissed enthusiastically. The adder slithered up Harry's leg and ended up around his left arm, while his head stuck out next to Harry's left ear. Ooh. Niccce and warm. he hissed contently.

The Boa and rattlesnake shook their heads and the Bos hissed How did I end up in thththisss messss... Harry, being too tired to comment on it, wisely chose to shut up.

-

True to his word, Soury instructed Harry in the arts of the defense of the mind. Being the only thing besides exploring to do, combined with his improved mental capability, made Harry progress well beyond expectations. Normally, it would take a human at least double the time to learn mind arts, but no, Harry had to be special again. He picked up the arts as fast as a Sour-Snake hatchling, which was pretty quick. Harry found that with the mind exercises came the ability of almost photographic memory. Suffice to say, with help of his new companions, the forest was explored soon enough.

-

One day, they even found a cabin, where a man sat down in a chair.

The man was tall, about 5'9" and had a smile on his face. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you, young Speaker." The man's smile grew bigger as harry's eyes reflected the shock and astonishment. The mind defense arts of the Sour-snakes are effective in guarding all thought pattern, how insignificant they might be, from any outside view, rendering Legilimency effectively useless, both in use on and by him.

However, this could not be said about emotions. These were still easily read in his eyes. This gave the perfect image of a boy in mental shock. The man fortunately knew the state of mind achieved by mind defense. Since he was a speaker as well, he was also educated in the arts, though not extensively, but sufficient.

"Well, well, you don't have to speak to me, but I'll speak to you. I've observed you from afar these last 10 weeks, and you tend to care about animals. Therefore, I'll give you something special. 2 books and a set of special knifes. Make sure you read the instructions carefully."

The man placed the package on his porch and moved inside. After he closed the door, Harry approached the package and looked at the books. They were emitting a light glow. 'Strange. They glow like some of the snakes do, as well as some other animals... Oh well, it probably doesn't matter much...' Harry thought. As he picked up the knife set, he read the two titles: "_Magical Healing on humans or otherwise_, _Self-Updating edition_" and "_Bloode-magicke: Bloode-Rhunes And Bodey Arts, Apprentice Bounded edition_".

'Magical healing? How am I going to do magic? That's not possible...' Harry thought.

**MASTER NEEDS TO KNOW NOW...**

Suddenly, in a burst of pain, memories flashed through Harry's mind. The memories of his first 2 years. Harry felt dizzy and could tell, through his training with the mind, he was having alot of unguarded memories.

'I'd better get those sorted as soon as I can... After dinner.' Harry thought. He left the sight of the cabin, taking the books with him.

-

Harry had sorted his memories, and was silently crying. 'I'm a wizard. They think I'm worthless, better off without my parents, better off in a world where I'm hated.' A look of grim determination washed into his eyes and while he wiped away his tears with his battered clothes, he made a promise to himself.

"**_I will show them my worth. I shall be just and fair to all alike and face everything they can throw at me, and stand victorious in the end!_**" he said out loud.

**MASTER HAS AWAKENED.**

The forest hummed in anticipation and a feeling of peace came over all occupants of the forest.

-

Harry had started with the magical healing book. 'Got to know how I can help the best.' Harry thought. 'Everywhere they talk about a wand. I don't have one... Oh well, I'll learn it by heart anyways, since you need the knowledge to make any medical spell effective...'

After completely reading the magical healing book from cover to back 3 times, Harry could dream the content, which he did, the following week. The last night however, while updating his mind defense, he came into a meditative trance, which gave him a comfortable feeling. The picture of blankness disappeared and a pond appeared. The pond was calm, until Harry touched it. The rush and small tickling feeling took him back to the real world, where he noticed a rattlesnake hissing quite a few obscenities while hovering on Harry's eye-level. Damnit SSSpeaker! Get a grip on your magic! the rattlesnake hissed. The snake promptly fell down, with Harry looking shocked.

'How cool! I can lift things!' Harry thought. 'Wait... Isn't that supposed to require a wand? Oh man, not another little oddity!' Harry groaned. The rattlesnake rattled dangerously and hissed Don't do thththat again! SSSnakesss aren't meant to fffly around! and turned around to slither away. The black adder poked his head out. You think you can make me fly too? he hissed hopefully.

From that day on, Harry had a new mid-day activity: flying snakes.

-

Harry's control over the flying black adder steadily became better and better. The first few times, the adder was hitting tree after tree, due to lack of control, but the adder was able to maneuver his body in such a way, he was able to prevent large and painful collisions. Harry also wasn't able to try very many times since he tired easily.

The neglect and withholding of proper amounts of food was no longer a problem, as the snakes made sure 'their little speaker' was well fed and able to hunt for his own food after a month of explanations on what was edible and what was poisonous. So the problem was the lack of practice in magic.

The adder believed the rush of flight far outweighed the crash-landing-emergency-courses. I'll be needing landing ssskillsss when we go into long-dissstanccce-catapulting. I'm looking ffforward to thththat too! was the giddy reply of the adder. 'Mental, that one...' Harry thought.

Harry found out, that the pond he came across in his mind was most likely his magic pool after a conversation with Soury. This theory was about to be confirmed.

-

Harry was on strip-search for food and fruits again. He stopped by the river to drink when he heard faint sound coming from across the river. Luckily, it wasn't more than 15 feet across. What he saw, was a unicorn, lying on its side, nasty deep gashes in the belly and multiple scratches across the legs.

Harry rushed over and mentally reviewed the pages in magical healing on unicorns. Their anatomy didn't differ much from horses, just that the organs were magically supercharged, thus the body as well as the magic needs healing.

He fell down in the stream, cutting arms and legs on sharp little rocks in the riverbed. Cursing in Parseltongue, he rushed towards the unicorn. Harry kneeled in front of the wounded creature and tried to cover the worst gashes with his hands. Unicorn blood was soaking him. 'Right. Magic. Spell. Got to try, right now. First I have to access my pond and then I have to say the spell and imagine the spell effect while pushing out as much magic as I can. Right. Let's get this going.'

Harry was so focused on getting his magic and pushing it out towards the unicorn he forgot to voice the incantation. Harry was pushing as much magic as he could into the unicorn as possible, while trying to keep the wounds from bleeding too much. He was getting exhausted and sweaty very rapidly. The cuts on his arms and legs were feeling like they were burning. His wounds were covered in blood of the unicorn. Sweat trickled down his eyebrows into his eyes, under his glasses. Without thinking, Harry brushed his sleeve, which was drenched in unicorn blood, through his eyebrows and eyes, trying to remove the sweat. Pain shot through his eyes and he had to close them. Tears were forming and streaming down.

'Shit! This hurts! I don't have time for this! Ok, Harry! Focus! Magic! Healing unicorn!' Harry yelled in his thoughts. So, with tightly closed eyes, which were releasing tears freely, and burning arms and legs, Harry continued to poor magic into the wounds in an attempt to heal the unicorn. Harry didn't know how far he succeeded, as he couldn't see a thing with his eyes closed, but passed out after his magic pond was about empty.

-

A few hours later, Harry stirred, feeling very exhausted. He looked up and saw the unicorn. It was still bleeding, but it looked no longer in grave danger. The deepest gashes were reduced to shallow cuts. Still pretty serious, but nothing a magical being as magical as a unicorn can't survive.

Another unicorn was standing over the wounded one, with glowing horn. The gashes -that what was left of them- closed rapidly.

Harry blinked. His vision was... Foggy at best. He removed his glasses to rub his eyes but stopped, after thinking about the unicorn blood and the trouble it caused and looked around. His vision was as sharp as it could be. 'What the... No way! This isn't possible!' Harry thought while heading towards the river to clean himself and his clothes of the blood.

He was washing his clothes and body in the cool stream, which was making him shiver in the wind. 'Funny, I could've sworn I had cuts on my arms and legs from my fall in the stream... Oh well, I'm not complaining...' Harry thought. He looked into the water upon his reflection and gasped. 'Wow... I didn't know I had green eyes with a silver edge... Cool!'

As he finished up cleaning his robes and washing up, he looked over to the unicorns. Seeing the once wounded one standing up, he smiled. His smile turned into an expression of shock when the unicorn bowed towards him. When the unicorn looked up, it made a sound which could be interpreted as a laugh. The unicorns retreated into the depths of the forest. Harry was still standing in the stream, gob smacked. His body 'shook' him out of it. 'Shit! Cold! Aargh!' Harry thought as he jumped out of the water.

He spread his robes on a patch of grass and lay down next to the robes in the sun to dry up.

-

WHEEEEEeeeeeeeeee... A little splash was heard, confirming the successful hit. Moments later, the black adder came up to Harry. You hit thththe water again! Thththat'sss 9 out offf 10 triesss! the adder hissed excitedly. You're getting better, thththough I prefffer flight, to be honessst... Well, I thththink thisss isss enough fffor today. I ssstill have to get sssome fffood, and I wasss curiousss about thththisss blood magic book. I wanted to make a ssstart on it thththis afffternoon. Harry replied. The adder pouted.

-

Harry got the blood magic book and opened it. Inside, he found nothing but a blank page. To his surprise, words started to appear on the page:

_Welcome, potential apprentice. To see whether you are capable and/or ready to start the powerful and dangerous art of Blood Magic, you will need to drop 10 drops of blood on this page, after pricking yourself with the Blood Addition Knife._

The words dissolved after a few moments and a picture of the knife appeared. It looked like the smallest knife in the set he got from the man. Harry picked the knife from the set and pricked his finger, letting 10 drops fall onto the pages.

As the 10th drop hit the pages, Harry felt the cut heal up and his mind completely scanned. Because this was a scan done through blood, there was no possible defense, but blood magic, which he hadn't learned yet.

After a minute, the book glowed and looked as new. The cover held a new line on the bottom: '_Property of Harry James Potter'_

Harry saw new words appear on the pages.

_Young apprentice, you have potential, that is for certain. However, your young body cannot yet handle the stress of Blood Magics, therefore you will need to wait until your 8th birthday to open me again for further instructions._

The words disappeared and didn't return. After 30 seconds of waiting, Harry sighed and closed the book. 'My 8th it is, then. I should get more books for in the meantime. Magic is interesting.' Harry thought after standing up.

'Maybe the strange old man has some more books.' With those thoughts, Harry went out to find the cabin. When he arrived, he looked through the window and saw that the man was stirring in a large pot that was over a blue fire, emitting green fumes.

'Blue fire? Green fumes? I don't know anything that's supposed to do that...' Wondering, Harry walked over to the door and knocked.

The man opened and his eyes lit up after seeing the boy on his doorstep. "Ah, I was wondering when I'd see you again. Have you memorized both books? I bet the survival book came in handy, correct?" the man said with happiness in his voice. Harry looked confused. What are you talking about, old man? Thththere wasss one on magical healing and one on bloodmagicsss, nothththing on sssurvival. I've memorizzzed thththe medical one, but the bloodmagicsss book wouldn't allow more reading until 'My body wasss able to handle the ssstresssss' or sssomethththing along thththossse linesss. A sssurvival book WOULD have been convenient, thththough...

Harry hissed agitated.

The man was surprised. "I could've sworn it was a medical book and a basic survival book..." he muttered barely audible. "Oh well, you survived. So, what brings you here?" he asked to change the subject.

Harry, well aware of the subject dodge, replied Well, magic isss interesssting, ssso I wasss wondering ifff you have any more booksss on thththem. Thththough, I could ussse sssome thththat don't go on and on about thththossse 'wand' thingsss.

Now, the man was surprised again. 'Wandless magic without practice, yet still be able to control it? At such a young age? By the staff of Merlin, what's going to become of you?' he thought. Quickly snapping out of his daze, he thought about various things to be able to practice magic without wands or other focuses. 'I couldn't do it until after I magically matured the second time around my 50's, but he doesn't need to know that just yet. Oh boy, he is going to change the world!'

With that, the man began explaining the exercises to bring out your magic into solidity outside the body to increase control and 'practicing the magical muscle'.

Oh yeah, old man. What are you cooking? I don't know any recccipe thththat needsss blue ffflamesss and emitsss green fffumesss and isss actually edible.

The man laughed and said "Obviously, you have never seen the power and subtlety of potion making. You have two main branches of magic an accomplished wizard must be able to do, which are the 'wand-waving' thing they go on and on about in the books, and potion making. Potion making is a combination of cooking and putting magic in the ingredients." Harry grimaced at the mention of cooking, but lit up at the magical adding of it. 'Maybe this is more useful than cooking and less... Painful.' Harry thought.

The man saw the lighting up and offered teaching in 'the underestimated art of potion making', which Harry agreed to, and so, the coming 2 and a half years, Harry learned diagrams, reactions, magical addition to ingredients, where to add and where to not add magic (Magical ingredients more often than not do not need any adding magic until they are in the kettle, mixing with the rest) and the old man became more and more engrossed in the potion making and rather capable assistance of the young boy. 'The adding of magic to potions is a lost art these days.' were the thoughts of the old man, contently watching his young charge finishing something that was called 'Skele-grow'. With the addition of magic, it tasted alot less gross, was more liquid, and had a light yellowish blue shade instead of the greenish yellow it normally had. Besides the more comfortable taste, the efficiency of the potion was increased, because the non-magical ingredients being charged with the potion-maker's magic, making the potion half as painful as well as three hours less time-consuming in doing its work. On the 20 hours it normally uses, 3 hours isn't that much of a difference, but still, it was a definite improvement.

Harry had learned of his magical affinities helping him in potion making. When 'touching' ingredients with his magic, a feeling came to him whether or not it would fit into the potion he was making, giving him an intuitive brewing style. After a year of ignoring the sickening feeling when making potions that failed, he started following his feelings and almost never failed a potion again... Well at least he never blew up a cauldron again. Also, the intuitive timing was alot more effective than the timing described in the recipes, since every potion has ingredients of different freshness, making the time needed to cook or to cool vary quite often.

The gut feeling was especially useful when making the more difficult potions, such as 'Skele-grow', 'Re-vitality' and the 'Post-Cruciatus' potions. Potion makers around the world tried to successfully produce an acceptable version of the last, but only a few succeeded without the adding of their magic to the potion, which made it barely acceptable. Though with adding magic, several ingredients needed to be switched. You couldn't use dragon scales in combination with magically charged oak cinders, but you had to use magically charged white sea hawk feathers to have a successful mixture. An acceptable Post-Cruciatus potion was red, like a ripe tomato. An almost perfect Post-cruciatus potion was a darkish blood red, being over two times as effective in repairing the nerve damage.

Blood red Post-Cruciatus potion was therefore in high demand, but almost not accessible to most. Only the magical hospital 'St. Mungo's' had a small supply coming in every 3 months, courtesy of an unknown source: the old man. But the hospital doesn't know that little fact.

-

It's the 8th birthday. Harry had accomplished a near-perfect Post-Cruciatus potion, making him pass his Potion Practitioners Exam. As a prize, he received a fully stocked trunk, with built-in (magiced-in actually) greenhouses for the more controlled magical plants and those that needed special environments such as high heat or blistering colds. Long live multiple compartments.

Potion maker rankings, according to the standards of the old man, came in 5 rankings:

Potion Student: the beginner, can't do anything. Learning the first stirring techniques and such

Potion Novice: the novice, can do simple potions and knows his reaction charts

Potion Practitioner: the trained potions student, able to do most potions without supervision, and allowed to do so

Potions Creator: the potion maker of a caliber to be able to break down potions on ingredients by taste and smell, and being able to create potions to suit their purposes.

Potions Master: the potion maker of a caliber where one can remodel an existing potion with poor ingredients and still achieve a superior result.

The old man was always grumbling about the 'lousy potion makers calling themselves masters in the field.' According to him, most 'Potion Masters these days' could barely scrape the bottom Potions Creator level. "A real Potions Master knows to add magic. It's a bloody MAGICAL SUBSTANCE!" Safe to say, the old man was the only one Harry could consider a Potions Master with that logic, which made him double his effort to try and achieve the same status, as it was a most useful magical art to know.

Harry initially complained about the size and weight of the trunk, but the old man took the last two weeks to get Harry shrink and unshrink, feather-weight and de-feather-weight objects without the use of a wand. Since every morning, the old man and Harry practiced magical control, it was difficult, but not impossible.

Harry immediately stored his books in his small library (4th space in the trunk of 4, 1st being normal storage space, 2nd and 3rd being climate-controlled greenhouses) which had grown up to 30 books, 28 of them about potion ingredients, reaction charts and potion recipes, with 7 of the thicker ones being handwritten by himself, with mostly corrected potion recipes due to magic adding, all being supervised and approved by the old man.

Harry still went out into the woods to play with the snakes and to find his own food, healing the occasional animal he came across. (the word 'animal' being used for any being not considered humanoid, not in a negative way whatsoever)

It was time to open the big book on bloodmagics once again. Harry was in his favorite clearing, sat down and opened his book.

_Welcome once again, young apprentice. I see you have reached your 8th birthday. I also see you have practiced your control over your internal magics. Helpful indeed. To begin, we will need to attune your body to the ability of being able to do bloodmagics. The upcoming ritual I will describe, will be taxing and need to be done precisely. To see which ritual you are most suited, we shall do a small preparation ritual consisting of one series of runes on your inferior arm. This means, when you are left-handed, as you are, you will need to cut the runic series in your right arm, from your hand palm towards the inside of your elbow._

The ink disappeared and a runic series of 5 runes weaved into each other came into the picture. Text once again appeared under the picture.

_Practice this series of runes until you are sure you can do them flawless. Open me anytime you wish to check the series to practice, and when you feel confident enough in your ability to do the ritual, drop 5 drops of blood onto the pages once again._

The writing disappeared and the picture remained. Harry, excited to be able to do another form of magic, began practicing with one of the practice knives in the set, always doing this in the afternoons, after he finished his time with the old man, which was in the mornings. After a week of practicing, Harry dropped 5 drops of blood onto the pages and waited for further instructions.

After a few moments, new writings appeared after the picture disappeared.

_Very well, young apprentice. Find an open space and prepare your Small Ritual knife, as shown below. _

_A picture of one of the smaller knives appeared._

_Next, cut the runic series into your right arm beginning in your hand palm, constantly applying a small stream of magic into the knife. Do not worry about blood loss; the ritual, when completed, will heal all cuts. Proceed when ready._

Harry sat down in his clearing and grabbed the correct knife. 'Here goes nothing. No pain, no gain...' With that, Harry began cutting while applying magic into the knife. Harry's gut feeling played up once again. Having learned to trust it, Harry began fine-tuning the magical stream.

He was partially in a meditative trance to banish out the pain. His magic began guiding the knife, very gently suggesting where to cut, where to turn, how deep to cut and how fast to let the knife go through the lines. Within a minute, Harry pulled out the knife, having finished the runic sequence, when the runes glowed up, healed the cuts, leaving nothing behind. This took 5 seconds. 5 seconds after that, a blinding pain shot through Harry's right arm knocking him unconscious immediately.

-

Harry woke up and groaned. His right arm was a little stiff and both arms stung a little. 'Damn. That hurt. I sure hope any other rituals don't hurt that much, or I'll reconsider using this branch of magic...' he thought.

He opened the book and new letters appeared.

_Ah, welcome again, young apprentice. I see you successfully completed the attuning and mirroring ritual. You can now use your right arm and hand as well as your left and vice versa, making you effectively ambidextrous. Weaknesses that were in your right arm but not your left, were compensated with the abilities of your right, and vice versa. _

_You managed to achieve a ritual efficiency of 86 percent. A very fine achievement, since with an efficiency of over 80 percent, the ritual is fully effective, the last 20 percent just being pain-reducing the more effective you are. Ritual efficiency is a combination of cutting time, cutting length, cutting depth and amount of magic poured in the knife per cut. _

_Your control is good enough to be able to complete any ritual you want to do, but your ability to handle a knife as well as your knowledge on the shape of runes need work. So, I will become a study book on the runes that can be applied to unlock bloodmagics. When you have learned all that I am going to show you to learn, drop 5 drops of blood into the pages once again._

The writing disappeared and pictures of runes appeared with small lettered descriptions on the applications and efforts to be placed in different situations where the runes are applied.

'Runes. I heard about those. So blood runes are different. Maybe I should ask the old man more about runes when I'm finished with this...' Harry pondered. He sighed and looked up to the sky. 'I've been out cold for about 2 hours, I think... Time to gather dinner...'

With that, Harry's day schedule became like this:

Potion lessons with the old man

Lunch

Amusement with the snakes and a bit of healing when needed while gathering food for dinner

Learning blood runes till nightfall

This schedule was applied for a whole year.

Potions took increasingly more time, leaving less time to study runes in the evenings, but the potions knowledge and brewing experiences were very useful when Harry learned most rituals also used potions and chants besides the runes. Potions also became increasingly dependant on cutting. Since some potions required fresh-cut ingredients, Harry no longer could take his time in the preparation to carefully cut the ingredients and was forced to improve his speed and efficiency with the knife, which would be very helpful with blood magic runes.

Another very surprising event was the encounter with the Ancient One.

Harry was gathering food, specifically apples and blueberries. 'this will make a good side dish with the rabbit legs I have left from yesterday. He was on his return route and looking for animals that required healing when a 'bloody huge snake' came into his vision. The snake was in striking position looming over a shivering unicorn. Harry, having the knowledge of the cursing properties of the blood of a unicorn, forcibly taken, ran to the unicorn at best speed while 'yelling' Ssstop! Don't eat thththat! It'sss not good for you!.

But Harry was too late to stop the strike, and the 'saving stuff' mentality kicked into overdrive making Harry jump in front of the unicorn while pushing out as much of his magic as he could to shield himself from the impact of a 50 foot snake. The magic was not enough to prevent the frontal fangs from piercing his skin, making a small dose of the poison be injected into the shoulders, as that's where the fangs pierced. The snake, startled by the unexpected outcry and resistance, focused magic into his eyes to be able to see what he just had bitten, saw a human of all things standing in front of a unicorn.

The most unexpected thing however, was the fact that the human was still standing while looking straight into his eyes. Thththank Sassisss I bit thththe human and not thththe unicorn. Thththat would've causssed unnecccessssary trouble withthth thththe herdsss... Bloody eyesssight! I hate roossstersss! the snake hissed in irritation.

Harry was weakening under the effects of the poison running through his veins. Bloody wonderffful way to go. Jumping in fffront of a 50 foot sssnake to sssave him fffrom eating a unicorn. Sssplendid. Harry said out loud, surprising the snake once again.

You ssspeak, young one? I have heard rumorsss of another ssspeaker judged worthththy roaming in thththe ffforessst, yet I did not expect to run into you on sssuch an occasssion. It wasss not my intention to harm you like thththisss.

With those words, Harry passed out. He was encircled by a glow of magic that seemed to originate from nature itself. Words were whispered in the wind:

_Blood of the Light, freely given, strengthen the bonds of the soul_

_Poison of the Dark, forcibly given, guard the body and mind from control_

_Judgment of Magic, free Your Chosen from Nature's Toll_

_Judged, executed and given, Nature shall no longer claim her doll_

Magic tapestries in certain places were updated with a small addition to the name Harry James Potter. The name gained a shadowy addition "-_Evans _-_Black_" and "(LI)". These additions would be noticeable for those who look for it, but for the rest, it just seems a small blotch with a 'notice-me-not' charm.

When Harry came to, he was being watched over by several snakes. The Ancient One, as the giant snake was called, was there, with the Great Ones and the three snakes Harry pulled up with the most of the time.

Harry groaned. Bloody hell, I have a headache.

The snakes stopped their discussion. One of the asps looked upon Harry and asked Are you alright, young Ssspeaker? You underwent one of Nature'sss mossst potent ritualsss. I mussst sssay, you sssurprissse usss time and time again. he hissed.

Ritual? What ritual? I didn't do any ritual... I'm not supposssed to do any yet. was Harry's surprised reply. The asps could only shake their heads.

The Ancient One chose this time to speak up. Young ssspeaker, you have proven yourssselfff worthththy onccce again, sinccce not many can claim thththey withththssstood the glanccce of a Basssilisssk. I have heard offf your capacccitiesss in healing asss well. Thththerefffore, I have a requessst to placcce. Could you try to heal my eyesssight? I encountered a fffew roossstersss yearsss back, and while it did not kill me, it did damage my internalsss to such an extent I can no longer sssee very well any more. A basssilisssk, contrary to other sssnakesss, dependsss much more on hisss natural eyesssight then on the tassste offf thththe sssurroundingsss, which makesss it diffffficult to hunt, asss you no doubt have ssseen, fffor normally, I would not dare to ssstrike upon a unicorn.

Harry was lost in shock after the 'glance of a basilisk'. 'I looked into the eyes of a basilisk and lived. What the hell is wrong with me?' Harry thought. He was kicked out of his stupor by a nudge of the black adder. Young Ssspeaker, you need to anssswer the Ancccient One. the adder hissed.

Oh, sssorry, I wasss kind offf lossst in thththe part where I lived afffter looking into your eyesss, actually... Harry nervously said towards the Ancient One.

I sssee. Well, I asssked you ifff you could heal my eyesssight, fffor it wasss damaged when I encountered ssseveral roossstersss. Could you help me? In return I will teach you the Tongue of Emotion.

Hissing came from all sides. he isss a human! We can't let him into thththat, even ifff he isss blesssssed by Sassisss!

SSSILENCCCE! the Basilisk thundered. It isss mine to teach, and he will have to prove hisss worththth onccce again. Now, young ssspeaker, what isss your anssswer?

Harry, who has pulled up with snakes most of his life in the forest, was eager to learn more about snakes and would love to learn more about them and their ways. What better way to learn of their ways than from them directly?

You make a very interesssting proposssition, Ancccient One. I ssshall try my bessst to heal you, but I cannot guarantee anythththing. Besssides thththat, I fffeel drained right now, so I thththink we shshshould try thththsss anoththther day, sssinccce I'll probably need all thththe energy I have fffor thththat.

2 days later, the Basilisk and Harry met on the clearing with several spectators surrounding them. Ancccient One, I will need to fffire a ssspell into your eyesss which will give me thththe inffformation about your injuriesss, sssinccce your eyesss are thththe only placcce where sssuch a ssspell will work properly. It will probably sssting. Harry said nervously. He had reviewed his medical book on Basilisks just in case he missed something the last time, but this seemed to be the only way.

Very well. I hope it isss worththth it, young ssspeaker.

Harry launched the spell and interpreted the information that was returned while the Basilisk hissed in annoyance of the spell's stingy effect. It ssseemsss thththe magical conduitsss in thththe back of your eyesss have ruptured, making thththe magic leak away, where your eyeballsss absssorb thththe leaked magic on the outssside, ssslowly deteriorating thththe eyesss. I can fffix it, probably, but I'll need to puncture the eye to have my magic effectively reach thththe magical conduitsss and your eye damage on the back. I can't sedate it, sssinccce thththe sssedative would interfere withthth thththe magic for the conduit. In ssshort, it'll hurt like hell and you can't blink until I'm fffinishshshed. Do you ssstill want to proccceed? Harry asked

Yesss. It jussst keepsss getting worssse and worssse, and ifff a little hurt can fffix it, thththen I'm fffor it. The Basilisk replied, preparing himself for the pain.

Ok, thththen I will ssstart now.

With that, Harry performed a medical piercing spell and began healing the conduit first, the back of the eye next and finally the puncture wound. The process took 10 minutes in total for one eye.

phew. Thththat'sss one. Now the next. You ready?

The basilisk blinked several times before nodding. Get it over withthth. he hissed irritably. Getting an eye healed in such a way hurt. Pretty badly.

Another 10 minutes and Harry was done.

Ok, it'sss done. I recommend you don't ussse your 'glanccce' fffor anoththther week. Your eyesssight shshshould improve over thththe next 3 daysss and in a week it'll be asss good asss it hasss been. Let me check up in a week to make sssure. With that, Harry passed out, due to magical exhaustion.

The Basilisk lashed out with his tail to catch Harry before he fell to the ground in a heap. He gently placed him gently under a tree. Thththank you, young Ssspeaker. Until we meet again. with that, the adder stuck around to watch over Harry, while the rest of the snakes dispersed to do their things.

A week later, Harry did a check-up and found no discrepancies anymore, in which the Basilisk thanked him once again. They make arrangements for Harry to meet the Basilisk for the lessons on the Tongue of Emotion every 3 days in the evening. This language worked with Parceltongue, though very minimally and the conveyance of emotions towards the other. This required additional mind training, as the defense was totally focused on hiding thoughts and not projecting and receiving emotions. The Tongue of Emotion was a language, where all scaled animals could communicate with each other. Snakes, crocodiles, dragons, wyverns to name a few.

-

The Blood Runes book proved to be a wealth of information, since after Harry dropped the 5 drops of blood onto the pages, the rune descriptions disappeared, and the next text baffled him even more.

_Welcome again, young apprentice. Since you now know your blood runes and have improved your handling of the knife, I will introduce you to the next part of a ritual: the chants. Mostly done in the Druidic and Egyptian tongue, you will need to learn these languages to perfection. I will be able to hear you, and I will be able to let you hear the correct pronunciations._

With that, a link was formed through blood between the book and between Harry. This signaled a two year period of constant studying of languages in the evenings, which cut into potions time and dinner finding time, but Harry managed. The old man looked thoughtful and nodded when Harry explained the time loss. The last 3 weeks of July, however, was solely focused on Potions, since the old man announced him worthy enough for the Potions Creator Exam, which would bring him on par with most current potion makers considered Masters.

The test was hard. Harry had to work with limited supplies and had to create a potion that could successfully counter the venom from a bite by a young Green Welsh dragon. What was hardest, was the fact that there were almost no magical ingredients present, so Harry had to charge his ingredients to get the desired results. Normally, that would not be a problem, but with the ingredients offered, it was, since it mattered on how much magic you put into the ingredients what kind of effect it had on the potion.

Harry was exhausted, but happy, when he completed a successful potion, that worked as good as a specialized potion made with unlimited supplies.

The old man surprised him even further when he said that the test was actually the first part of a Potion Masters test. The next two days, Harry was subjected to several potions to break them down without tasting them and without knowing the name, so by scent and texture alone. Grueling fumes that could be hazardous and boiling substances that could bubble out of the cauldron when misinterpreted and a little too much fresh air was present.

However, Harry passed the tests, but barely. The old man was more than happy and gave Harry a special piece of parchment, declaring him an accomplished Potions Creator with Mastery. To get a full Potion Mastery, he would have to learn more under the old man. At least, that was what the old man said.

The parchment was supposedly a magical declaration of skill, valid all over the world. The parchment being in old format, made it valid as a declaration of Potion Mastery in the eyes of any ministry, since real Potion Masters were deemed 'no longer existing'.

The Parchment was signed by the old man in full name and surname. The name didn't say anything to Harry, but many would either shiver in fear, or faint in disbelief at the sight of the parchment, because of the magical dating spell that could not be deceived. The old man also added a little obscuring charm, making the viewers of the parchment see and remember the name long enough to validate it, but not long enough for the viewers to spread the word on it, with one exception, being the passed student, Harry James Potter.

-

Over time, Harry completed several small Bloodrune rituals to improve his control over his magic and to decrease the loss of magic when channeling without a focus. With a particular set of runes, Harry could open 'Magic conduits' on different parts of his body. Normally, a wizard has two main conduits, being his left or right hand palm. With the runes, Harry opened conduits on the end of his index fingers, as was advised by the runes book, so he could simulate wand movements. The after-effect of opening a conduit, was a little pain with a sense of euphoria, which led to Harry applying the set of runes on all of his fingers and even his nose.

Of course, to be able to use the conduits, Harry had to implement a set of control runes, which hurt like hell, because they linked the conduit up to the magic pond. Harry, being a little perfectionist, wanted to perform them on all conduits, which led to 11 painful nights and loss of scent for five days.

-

Nearing his 11th birthday, the Bloodmagics book found it time for the judgement of the soul.

_Hello again, young apprentice. It is nearing your 11th birthday. I think it is time to increase your magical core, so you will be able to learn the magic that the rest of the community has to offer, besides the blood runes you have been doing up to now. It is time for you to go to school. _

_For that, you will need to increase your magical potential. Most of yours is locked away, and to unleash it now, would be deadly for you. Without unlocking your blocked magic, you need to increase the size of your unlocked potential. _

_Unfortunately, there are only 3 rituals able to do so without you losing some of your senses like smell, sight, touch etcetera. 2 of them would not be able to increase your potential enough to be able to do magic like an average wizard._

_The last ritual is called 'The ritual of Nature's Judgement'. You need to double your current unlocked magical potency to be noticed by a magical learning institution. Only Nature's Judgement is able to offer that increase. Of course, this depends on the Will of Nature and the Will of Magic. I advise you to have someone as back-up to take care of you when the ritual completes, because depending on how successful you can perform this ritual, you will be knocked out for 5 to 15 days. Open me again when you have found a reliable person to do this task._

The text disappeared, leaving a numb and dazed Harry.

Harry considered this and asked his three serpentine friends to be there when he performs the ritual. The Boa constrictor, Black adder and Soury agreed to be there and watch over him. The next stop was the old man. When the old man heard the name of the ritual he paled.

"Are you sure you want to do this? It indeed has the potential to do what you want, but it can also backfire upon you. I have heard you have only once to try, without practice, and even then, if you're successful, your magical core can be diminished because Nature judged you to be 'too well endowed'." the old man explained restless.

Harry thought about it. 'I have done several things with bloodmagics and magic has assisted me in all I did. Besides that, I wonder what Nature thinks of me.'

"I want to perform this ritual, old man. I want to know Nature's Judgement." Harry said in normal English, shocking the old man, since Harry never talked in English before. This projected Harry's seriousness.

The old man finally nodded. "I will look over you. Just make sure you get the best deal, ok?"

The old man winked at the last bit. "You'll need a special place to perform this ritual. I'll be able to make you a ritual chamber specifically designed to handle this sort of magic."

"No need. It is between Nature and Magic, so I will perform it in the clearing I usually spend my time, not cooped up in a chamber, locked up. No, Nature'll probably need the space. Can't have it cooped up and have an agitated decision, now can we?" Harry replied cheekily.

"Well, if you're certain... I will look over you from the edge of the clearing then. When will you perform the ritual?"

"Tomorrow, on my birthday, at noon."

"Very well. See you tomorrow then."

The next afternoon was quite a spectacle. The sign of 'Nature's Judgment' was a circle of runes, 2 half circles of 13 runes to be exact, which were mirrored to each other. They were to be inscribed into the stomach with the navel being the exact center of the sign. Harry opened the book to see the sign. And saw he needed to begin with an incantation in ancient druidic.

'Oh well, here goes nothing...' Harry thought as he saw his 3 snake friends and the old man at the edges of the clearing. He sat at the exact center and picked up his smallest knife, which was the knife he felt most comfortable with.

(D)_I invoke Nature's Judgment. I stand before thee of my own will. Let judgment be passed. By Nature, By Magic, So Mote It Be._(D)

With that, Harry begun inscribing the first rune. When the knifepoint first pierced the skin, Harry felt his magic steer him even stronger then before, guiding his hand, taking away the pain of the cut to a point it was little more than an itch.

At the finishing of the first 13 tunes, the sign began to glow, and an eerie green glow came over the clearing and began swirling.

The magic kept guiding the knife while another whisper came in the wind.

_Judgment invoked_

_Thy art pure of soul, yet burdened by the dark_

_Thy claim to have no ill will, but to learn, so learn thy shall_

_Magic what of thine opinion, heed this call_

_**Thy have the will**_

_**Thy have the bonds**_

_**Thy come in good faith**_

_**Thy come to learn**_

_**Who areth ours to hinder such a queste**_

_**Judgment invoked**_

With that, several magic tendrils launched towards Harry as he finished the final rune of the circle, connecting both halves. The magic tendrils reached Harry and went into the navel, delivering excruciating pains, which knocked Harry out almost instantly.

_Judgment passed_

_Thy wish shall be done_

_**So Mote It Be**_

**SO MOTE IT BE**

With those whispers, the green glow brightened up to rival the sun and swirled into the skies, slowly dissipating, leaving another 2 parallel runes in the middle of the circle, before the circle faded out of sight.

The spectators, temporarily blinded by the spectacle, were silent.

The old man came out of his stupor and reached for Harry to get him to his cabin, only to encounter 3 angry hissing snakes. Don't touch him, human! We shshshall defend him and you will pay dearly ifff you do not ssstop thththere!

The old man smiled.

It does me good the young man has such loyal friends, however he came to me to take care of him while he is not conscious. If you wish, you can accompany me, but he must be taken care of while he is out. the old man replied towards the snakes.

The snakes, initially baffled by the fact that there was another speaker in the woods, overcame this soon enough.

The adder decided to slither up to Harry's arm as he did more often, and the rattlesnake and the Boa Constrictor went on their way, satisfied by the fact that their friend was watched over.

In a magical castle, somewhere in Scotland on an Unplottable place, a letter was inscribed.

_**To: Harry Potter**_

_**Cabin In The Woods**_

_**Azkaban Forest**_

_To Be Continued_

So? What y'all think? Gimme some reviews.


	2. Chapter 2

His Life 02

The Potters, after bringing Harry onto the doorstep of the Dursleys, gave their undivided attention the the 2nd Potter male. Of course, reporters regularly trying to find out about the conquests and escapades of their boy-who-lived cut into the patience of any parent. At least, placing Harry at muggle family considered a very sympathetic gesture toward young Harry, since he would feel worthless next to the Boy-Who-Lived. So, after Corvin displayed his first accidental magic, the Potters moved back to the Potter Ancestral Manor. It was a tough decision, since it was the last place James ever saw his parents alive, but the famous Lily temper and the arguments of being able to do magic and educate Corvin in it, won out in the end.

Raising the boy to become able enough to handle his magic when he eventually would be ready for Hogwarts. Of course, James also began early with prankster training, alongside Sirius and Remus. Potter Ancestral Manor was large enough to house more than 3 families, so there was more than enough room for the two friends/marauders.

It became apparent Corvin wasn't 'wand-ready' with his blocks up and running at age 4, so teaching magic at such an early point would not be possible, which was a small disappointment. Lily believed she had too little time to learn all she wanted, at which point James rolled his eyes at her. Of course, behind her back, so she wouldn't see, for Magic forbid if she saw, there'd be Temper Hell to pay. Even when Corvin was around, she wouldn't diminish her rants if she was on fire. She would seem to be a walking firestorm with her red hair billowing in a suddenly generated wind and her emerald green eyes sparkling like lightning, and not a happy spark either... Times like that were... often. James always found making up with her afterwards particularly challenging and rewarding, just like in school.

James, Sirius and Remus would prank eachother quite often, resulting in the laughter of little Corvin and the Temper Hell of Lily. suffice to say, all men in the house knew how to run like hell.

Sirius and Remus weren't very happy with the decision to place Harry with his aunt, but could understand the logic behind it: not to get Harry's hopes up to a magical schooling and afterwards being bitter about it if it wasn't to be so. They mulled over it for several weeks, but after seeing little Corvin upset about their gloomy attitude, they started to hide it and play like they used to. Eventually, they got over it.

Little Corvin was having his first bout of accidental magic just before his 7th birthday: he lifted a fresh baked cookie to his dinnerplate after being forbidden to eat one before he finished said meal. Thankfully, the excitement over the accidental magic took away the thoughts of Lily and her punishment for disobeying her rules, and of course, it was all over the Daily Prophet, about how the Boy-Who-Lived had finally performed accidental magic, and how powerful he must become to have overcome the block his parents placed over him.

Naturally, a wand was his birthday present. A nice Rosewood, 13 inches, with a phoenix feather core, which happened to be the brother to another feather: the one known to be in Voldemort's wand, solidifying the beliefs of Corvin being the Boy-Who-Lived. Lily and James tried to keep the media out of their lives, but after Corvin's 7th birthday, it was no longer possible to keep them completely out, and when James was out with Corvin, they received alot of attention, which suited the both of them just fine. Quidditch gear discounts were always welcome.

Over the next few years, Corvin received basic magical training, which was constantly included in pranks throughout the Manor, which induced the wrath of Lily often enough, and now that Corvin was joining in, he no longer escaped punishment. This meant a regular confiscation of anything related to quidditch. Lily had been working for her Charms Master after Corvin was old enough to not require 24/7 care and this made her be able to work on some inventive concealment charms. Even the so-called 'secret reserve back-up quidditch gear' disappeared during a penalty period. This made sure pranks were limited, or at least made to look like either Moony (Remus) or Padfoot (Sirius) did it.

Moony, Padfoot and Prongs (James) had decided that a nickname was in order for the newest marauder. Prongslet (Corvin) was born.

More magic meant more pranks. It also led to more praise from the media. James and Corvin came to love the positive attention. Lily kept her distance from the media, since she was muggleborn and knew of the half-truths and lies newspapers printed just to sell copies, especially in the Wizarding World. More and more tension grew between the Potters. Most was diffused by pranks, but Corvin's love for the attention of the media and the star-struck people that handled him like a god became greater and greater. Lily tried to keep Corvin as down to earth as she could.

The Potters were rich, but Lily was the main factor of making sure they didn't flaunt it. "You wouldn't want to look like a Malfoy, now would you?" was Lily's favourite argument, which always worked. Therefore, Corvin was not spoiled rotten and had a childhoold as normal as any famous teenage wizard could have, though a little pudgy due to eating habits (House Elves were wondrously helpful for the late night snacks)

.-.-.

Harry groaned.

"Ahh, you're awake. Took you long enough! come on, swallow these potions, you'll need them." The old man handed Harry some doses which made Harry make another groan. "Do I have to? Never mind, don't answer that." Harry gulped the foul tasting liquids down as best he could and groaned again. The potions began working shortly afterwards. Sores disappeared, the dry throat stopped pulsing with pain and tensed-up muscles relaxed.

"I see the ritual was succesful. You still seem to have your magic, as the potions worked very acutely. let's test you again, shall we? Then we can compare results." the old man stated while grabbing his wand.

**-Flashback-**

"Well, to see whether the ritual has any effect and what kind of effect, we'll need to measure you first. I'm going to cast the Revaelo Potentas spell on you to see what kind of statistics you have. Do you agree to let this spell work? It is vital to agree, or else the spell wouldn't work, since your magic would be fighting to keep its secrets. So, do you agree?" The old man ended his little monologue.

Harry thought it over. "Well, I certainly want to know how and what will change in the ritual, but will it hurt? I don't feel like writhing on the ground hours before another obviously painful ritual." he asked.

"Ah, I see you're using mostly english now. Good. It seems there is prejudice against people that can speak Parceltongue, as this self-proclaimed Dark Lord was one and started to spread rumors, which are now mostly believed by the populace,so you'll need to look out for that. prejudice is easily gained and very hard to lose. But I'm losing myself here... No, the spell won't hurt if you approve of it, it will probably be little more than a tingle througout your body." the old man replied.

"Ok. Then it's fine. I'm using mostly english, because I need to get used to it if I am to go to a magical school. Go ahead, blast me away!"

The old man chuckled. Sometimes, when they were both brewing relatively expendable potions, certain ingredients would find their way into the cauldron whith often resulted in an explosion with... original... effects. Now the two of them being potions practitioners of sufficient level made it quite harmless aside from the ear-deafening boom and missing (or added) appendages, which either seem to attack the owner or be annoyingly itchy. After they had a good laugh about the new effects, they reversed it with a counter-potion and restarted their potion-making in higher spirits. This came AFTER a huge lecture on how to keep it relatively harmless and in good fun.

A flourish of wand movements and a spoken 'Revaelo Potentas' later, a parchment came up which contained all kinds of numbers:

_Potential revealed for: Harry James Potter_

_Reserves: 24.000 MUs / Unknown MUs blocked._

_Regain curve: 700 MUs / second - Unknown MUs / Second blocked_

_Output curve: 3.500 MUs / second (per conduit if user is able to use them fully) - Unknown MUs / second blocked_

_Core Strain curve: 20.000 MU / second - of - 150.000 MU / second_

_Potentials:_

_Magical Languages:_

_-Parceltongue_

_-Egyptian Glyphic_

_-Gobbledegook (Goblin)_

_-Nature Druidic_

_-Wizarding Latin_

_Animagus_

_-Unknown_

_L.I. (Unknown)_

"Well, this is certainly interesting. You seem to have very versatile magic, if you're able to use magic from all known magical languages, however, with such little reserves I'm surprised at your aptitude for applying magic by letting that little black adder fly around..." the old man mused. Harry looked up sharply. He didn't think anyone but the berings of the forest saw that. The old man noticed Harry's look. "Well, how surprised would _you_ be if you saw a little black adder screaming in glee sailing through the sky? Naturally, I followed him, only to see him being launched by your magic again. Quite impressive. Which reminds me. Keep the ability to do magic without the 'aid' of a wand as unknown as you can. Back in my days, they were starstruck if you could do that with the major things, since the wands were introduced and made magic much easier to control. So, to be able to do magic without one was often seen as a sign of great power. Great power makes you a target, and I know you don't want to be a target..." the old man trailed off.

Harry nodded gravely. He looked over the parchment. "I can understand most of the potentials, but what do those numbers mean?" Harry asked the old man.

"Ahh. Well, a MU is a Magical Unit, the minimum amount of magic to trigger a magical response. a muggle has between 1.000 and 5.000 MUs, but no Regain or Output curve, meaning they can't use it. Squibs usually have a Reserve of between 15.000 and 25.000 MUs, with a Regain curve between 50 and 150 and an Output curve of 100 or less. This means they can use magic, but only passively, so they can see and feel magical effects like any wizard, but can't perform magic. A Wizard, which you obviously are, usually has a reserve of at least 150.000 or higher, with a Regain curve between 200 and 3.000 or so. I don't know how high the maximum is, that's just a guess. The Output curve is usually between 10.000 and 25.000."

Harry looked downwards. "But my reserves are only 24.000. That means I'm a squib, like my parents said I would be..." he said dejectedly.

"On the contrary, young man, your Regain curve and your Output curve say otherwise. And even then, you can't see them fully yet, since 1) you arent' matured enough to handle your full magical potential, and 2) the Potentas parchment says there's a part blocked on both curves. The fact that the Potentas Parchment gives unknown figures both amazes as baffles me. You're already in the mid-range for wizard on curves alone. Besides that, your reserves are blocked as well, so you shouldn't be too worried. The numbers you see now are the numbers you can use now. Did you know that the reason reserves are so large is because spells use alot of it: a simple levitation, such as lifting that black adder should use about 10.000 MUs with 1.000 MU /second to maintain the spell. Now before you ask, the reason you are able to use it, is because you can build up the magic just outside your conduit, whether that is a wand or finger, until you have enough to use the spell. Usually, the wand-waving described in the books is just for people to keep their magic concentrated for the spell to use, just like you do with your finger, as I've noticed. Of course there's more to it, but that's the gist of it for now.

A wizard with a higher Output curve can use his spells faster, while a wizard with a higher Regain curve can go on longer without being exhausted. Now, the last curve is the curve that says you are going to be a powerful wizard. Core Strain curve says the maximum output your core can handle per second. usually, this doesn't reach above 130.000. I'll be waiting to see what you can do if the ritual succeeds. A high Output curve is favourable for charms and other quick spellwork, a high Regain curve is more favourable for transfiguration and conjuration, conjoined with a high Core Strain curve of course. Let's see what your strengths are going to be..."

Harry was a bit dazed by the explanation, but understood regardless. "I'm going to prepare for the ritual now..." he said and walked off to 'his' clearing.

**-Flashback end-**

"Revaelo Potentas."

The new parchment came into existence and the results surprised both of them. Well, actually, the old man was astounded.

_Potential revealed for: Harry James Potter_

_Reserves: 117.000 MUs / Unknown MUs blocked._

_Regain curve: 20.000 MUs / second - Unknown MUs / Second blocked_

_Output curve: 10.500 MUs / second (per conduit if user is able to use them fully) - Unknown MUs / second blocked_

_Core Strain curve: 71.000 MU / second - of - 310.000 MU / second_

_Potentials:_

_Magical Languages:_

_-Parceltongue_

_-Egyptian Glyphic_

_-Gobbledegook (Goblin)_

_-Nature Druidic_

_-Wizarding Latin_

_Animagus_

_-Unknown (Magic)_

_-Unknown (Nature)_

_L.I. (Unknown)_

'Holy mother of Merlin! his reserves might be far below average, but he could go on and on with a Regain curve like that! I'd say this ritual was more than a succes... Bloody Hell...' were the thoughts of the old man.

Harry looked it over and was still disappointed. "With that amount of reserves, I still might not be accepted into school... What am I going to do now?" His words brought the old man out of his stupor. He whirled towards Harry and exclaimed "Are you mad?!" startling Harry. The old man continued "They'd be _insane_ not to accept you! your reserves might not be anything, but bloody hell boy! Your Regain curve more than makes up for that!"

Harry intervened at this point. "But my Output curve is just above the minimum of 10.000 you said. How am I going to work with that then?" somewhat dejectedly.

"I'm sure there are some rituals in that wonderful blood runes book you told me about to gain another conduit, wouldn't you say? as long as you don't go over your Core Strain curve, you're good." the old man retorted excitedly.

Harry remembered the conduit rituals he did and began to blush as he understood what he had done and mumbled something the old man didn't quite get.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that. Can you repeat yourself?" the old man asked.

"Well, I already have done some rituals to create extra conduits..." Harry mumbled a little loudly. Harry gathered his courage to tell the next little bit. "I have 11 in total." the incredulous look on the old man/s face almost stole his resolve. "All 10 of my fingers and... um..." He didn't get any further under the old man's gaze.

"And?" the old man began to fear something very inappropriate and the fear was readable on his face.

Harry mustered up enough courage under the fearful look of his potions Master and said "My nose."

The old man was immediately relieved and ended up in a laughing stupor. "Hahahaha! Your _nose_!? Why did you pick your nose?"

Harry blushed red under the laugh and began to feel defiance, so he looked up to the old man and said "Yes, well, the making of the conduits was a very nice and happy feeling, making me want to make more of them. I chose my nose, because if I can't use my hands in a situation, I'd be useless, unless I'd have access to a conduit not located on my arms. Besides that, it was funny!" By the end he was glaring at the old man. Said person rolled over again "Hahaha! Yes, I can see that! would you imagine that! Being taken out by someone who shoots a binding curse from his nose! Hilarious! Honestly!"

It took a while for the both of them to get out of their laughing stupor, since Harry joined in at the mental image of that (a nice colored spell with green boogers trailing after it) "But seriously, that was some good thinking. Having your nose-" here, the old man snorted "- as an extra conduit could very well save you some day. It should at least provide a distraction." the old man said.

Just that moment, a large brown barn owl came swooping down through the open window of the little cabin. It carried a letter. The old man saw the logo and became pensieve. "Well, it seems you have an invitation to a wizarding school here. Go on, read it." the old man said.

Harry, not expecting the letter to be for him, uncertainly reached for the envelope and read the address:

_**To: Harry Potter**_

_**Cabin In The Woods**_

_**Azkaban Forest**_

'Aha, so that's the name of this forest... Azkaban... sounds kind of... cool.' Harry had a little grin on his face, which widened after the fact hit that this was the first letter he ever received.

He read the invitation and became more and more excited. Then, after the next page, which was the list of requirements, Harry's mood dropped again. The old man noticed.

"What's wrong? Why are you so somber suddenly?" he asked Harry worried.

"How am I going to pay for all this? I don't have any money, and I'll be damned if I go to my 'dear aunt and uncle' to ask for an allowance to go to school. And besides that, what if people find out I don't live with them anymore, will they take me away from here?" Harry became very worried as he thought of having to move away from the forest that became his home in the last 5 years. A hand on his shoulder made him look up into the soft blue eyes of the old man.

"Don't you worry about any of that. The moment you accepted being my apprentice, I became your magical guardian, thus any legislation regarding you has to go through me, as is stated by some of the most ancient of Wizarding Laws, the Apprenticeship Laws. I also have to cover for you in the financial department, and I have more than enough money from my potionmaking as well as... other funds... so you don't have to worry about that. We do have to get you a nice little cabin like mine, so you can store all of your school stuff in a proper environment. Besides that, you'll have to follow a crash course in a few proper manners, etiquette and a little background on the world you're about to enter. It wouldn't do for a full fledged Potions Creator not to know the basics of the world." Harry groaned at hearing this. "Don't worry, it'll only take a month to get you through the basics. Now, it has been a busy day. We'll store your stuff in your trunk for now, and we'll go shopping tomorrow. Since we'll need you to eat while sitting at a table with others, we'll start that right now. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour, and then I'll guide you through some table manners."

With that, the old man began swishing his wand and kitchenware and food began flying around the kitchen. Harry watched on, transfixed how the cooking process was so much more fun with magiced kitchenware doing the stuff for you. It made him renew his interests in cooking.

.-.-.

Harry and the old man were walking around in a little wizarding town. At least, that was assumed, since everybody was walking around in thesame kind of robes and cloaks. The little town wasn't very busy, after all, it only had little more than 10 shops: an apothecary, a post-office, a small menagerie, a small candyshop, a clothing store, a book store, an entertainment store and several other little family shops that sold various things. The shopping centre was a single street. I wasn't very wide: seven men could stand shoulder-to-shoulder, that was about how wide the street was. The light brown cobblestones and the dark red bricks of the houses with various plants sticking out of the walls at random intervals made the little street very comfy feeling and when the lights were ignited in the early morning, the street positively glowed in the dark. One particular building was an interesting sight. it looked like a big door with 2 white Marble pillars on each side that looked to be lodged into a big rock wall, which signalled the end of the street. Above the big double doors, there was another white marble slab, this time in a bow, with the letters 'Gringotts' in gold over the bow. This was the first stop. "You can't buy anything if you don't have any money to pay for the things you want, now can you?" the old man jovially told Harry when they entered the small Gringotts establishment. behind the doors, there were two goblin guards, standing stock-still with sharp spears 1.5 their length, bringing the point right up to the old man's chin. The guards' eyes followed the two visitors like predators watch their prey. The lobby consisted of elevated desks, where another 4 goblins were measuring various things and scribbling on thick parchment, and 3 long, wooden benches, for visitors to sit on, when those that didn't want to go down to their vault with the rest of the family could wait for their return. "Harry, I want you to wait on the bench for a moment, ok? I'll call you over in a few minutes.I have to take care of something first."

Harry nodded and watched in interest around the lobby and towards the guards. He had read about the goblins in his medical books and learnt about rudimentary healing on them and the very basics in their anatomy. Still, Harry was more of a silent, observant type, unless of course the situation required action. So, he was quite content watching the different things the guards carried, and the different things the goblin Tellers were handling.

The old man walked over to one of the tellers. Since it was early, there was no other wizard in the bank, so he could address the Teller very quickly.

"What do you want, wizard?" the Teller said brusquely. English was very hard to pronounce with goblin vocal chords, so they preferred to get to the point in as less words they could, without being (overly) rude.

The old man merely smiled and said: "Do you see that little child over there. sitting on the bench, looking around the bank? I think you should inform your superiors that 'The Heir is Once Again Amongst Us'." The Teller's eyes went a fraction wider than they were, a sign that the Teller was quite disbelieved. "I think he'll be quite willing to verify this claim, but be certain you be as vague about it as you can. He'll learn to deal with it soon enough, but right now, I think he has sufficient trouble fitting into the wizarding world without havng to think about his status... around here."

The Teller nodded and began jelling in Gobbledegook at another goblin, stationed behind the Teller. Apparently, the message was quite interesting, as every other Teller stopped working to hear what was being said.

The goblin messenger ran as fast as he could towards the doors behind the Teller tables, only to return with a goblin dressed in rough armor, that was pollished up to sheen very brightly in the right lighting. He approached the Teller whom just had received the message from the old man, and after a littile hushed argument, walked over to the old man. "You can verify your claim?" the goblins said towards the old man.

"No,-" he replied, "-but the child in the bench over there can and probably will. Now, as his magical guardian, I don't want him to bear the full responsibility of this quite yet. A verification is all for now. You can explain the specifics after he's more accustomed to the wizarding world, as well as your own language and ways."

The goblin looked pensieve. "Very well." The goblin walked over to Harry with the old man in tow. Harry's face became a bit panicked before he remembered his mind training with the snakes. The old man said "Don't feel too bad, it's nothing to worry about. This goblin here is just going to ask you some questions, ok?" Harry's face, now quite impassive, still showed signs of great relief.

Without delay, the goblin introduced himself. "Greetings, wizard. My name is Goldlock, current manager of this establishment. This man has introduced you, and due to circumstances, I require that you identify yourself. You can do this by dropping 3 drops of your blood into this bowl. Green is good, red is bad." Goldlock presented a large challice filled with a bottom layer of clear liquid. Harry, confused, looked up to the old man, since he couldn't make out what was in the challice, which meant, as a Potions Creator, he was immediately wary. The old man gave a reassuring nod. The approval made Harry prick his finger on the point on the edge of the challice and dropped 3 drops of his blood in the middle of the challice.

A tingle spread over Harry's pricked finger and the blood with the prickwound was gone. The clear liquid, now a little bit reddish, swirled for a few moments. Harry felt a little tug at his magic.

**MASTER IS APPROVED**

A green tendril spread from the point where Harry pricked his finger and filled the challice with a green hue. There was a green flash and the liquid was clear once more.

Goldlock nodded, and proceeded to ask "Was there any other business here for you today?". The old man answered.

"Yes, I would like to withdraw some Galleons so I can buy the school suppies for Harry here. Besides that, I don't think there is anything else."

Well, not for the old man, but Harry suddenly remembered his Potentas parchment. "Um, mister Goldlock?" Goldlock looked towards Harry, and them being almost equal in height, made Goldlock a very intimidating person. to stand across of. "My master has done the Revaelo Potentas spell, and the parchment said I had potential in Gobbledegook. Since it's the language of the goblins, I thought why not ask them directly..?" Harry trailed off at the end uncertainly because Goldlock's eyes became sharp at the mention of Gobbledegook. After a few seconds of calculating looks, he nodded to himself and said "Hold out your hand. I will see if you may study Gobbledegook." Harry was immediately all giddy to see if he could learn more magic, and now a branch few wizards would ever learn, making it very special to learn. He reached out his hand towards Goldlock, who drew an to Harry unknown rune just above his hand. The rune shifted and Harry felt another little tug on his magic.

The rune became clear once more, but now looked like a little clock. A green pointer began at the 12 o'clock mark and went all around,filling the entire rune with green. The rune dissipated. Harry stared in confusion, and Goldlock stood pensive. Another nod and a few commands in Gobbledegook and another goblin came in with 2 books. Goldlock carved a rune in both books and turned to Harry. "Please drop 1 drop of your blood onto the rune to bind these books to you, so no other can read them. This information is not to be shared with any other, is that clear?" Goldlock looked sternly and threateningly towards Harry. Harry gulped and nodded. He pricked his finger with a little needle he got from Goldlock and dropped 1 drop per book. The runes glowed and dissipated. Goldlock picked a sack out of his pockets and handed it over to the old man. "This should cover the expenses you will make today for school supplies. Now it is time for our business to be concluded, since there is alot that needs to be done right now. Good day." Goldlock turned and waved at the guards. The guards came over and began escorting Harry and the old man out of the door. After that, Gringotts shut their doors for visitors, making the door melt into the rock, leaving only the white marble archway stand out on the rock wall.

"Well, that was weird. Let's go shopping." the old man said cheerfully. Harry nodded and followed, a bit dazed by the events that just happened.

.-.-.

"Ok. Now that we have some money to spend-" the old man opened the bag and saw a whole lot of money. 'Wow, there has to be over 500 Galleons in here. If we need all that, I'll be surprised...'. "-ok, ALOT of money to spend, we can buy your stuff. It seems the list is designed for you to get all your stuff from the London shopping street called Diagon Alley. I don't want you to go there looking like this, so we are going clothes shopping first." Harry, a bit self-conscious about what he has been wearing in the forest, doesn't know much about shopping, clothes, and color. Well, he knows enough to know what underware is, and pants and the likes, but it ends there. So, Harry was dependant on what his master would select for him.

They entered the little shop, which wasn't very roomy, since you had barely any manouvring space. The little bell above the door tingled. Behind the counter right next to the door appeared a witch's head. "Hello, welcome to this establishment of Madam Malkin's Robes for Every Occasion. My name is Rosa Backwater. Can I help you?" the witch said. She was a pleasant 5'5" and had half-long, brown curled hair, with brown eyes and slightly plump curves, making her give a peaceful image.

"Why, yes-" the old man replied in a friendly tone "-This young man here is going to school in a month, so I thought to go big, and buy him a nice complete wardrobe. Of course, he needs to represent his status as a Potions Creator, so I believe some of he best materials are in order." At the mention of a complete wardrobe, the eyes of Rosa began glittering and she smiled wide. "Excuse me, but what do you mean with Potions Creator? I don't know of any potion maker's rank like that..." she trailed off uncertainly. "No problem, miss Backwater. Most would not recognise it. It is a title of old and equivalent to any person claiming to be a Potions Master, with yours truly as an exception. But, let us not waste time on idle discussions about titles and such, but let's get this fine young man into some fine clothes!" the old man replied.

Rosa began bustling between the racks, looking for sizes that would fit Harry. "Oh, before I forget. Do you, by any chance have anithing against muggle-produced materials?" she asked the two of them, slightly afraid for their reaction, since certain people of Pureblood heritage could be quite fanatic about that, as she learned in her time at school.

Harry looked confused as to why she would even ask and the old man smiled before replying "No, we don't. Actually, for the Potions Lab robes, we will require totally non-magical robes, so to object such a thing would hinder our profession. Please continue with getting those fine-looking materials. I believe I can use some of those dark blue shiny robes as well. What kind of material is it?"

"Ahh, you mean this?" Rosa held up the dark blue robe and the old man nodded. "This is made of the finest satin made in the orientals, with silk inner linings and thin woolen filling, making it excellent for dry, colder weather. Try it on if you will." Rosa said as she handed it over. It looked slightly small for the old man, which was noticable in his questionable look. "Don't worry, all of these clothes auto-adapt their size to you, and when I ring them up, they'll be your size indefinitely. One of the more brilliant magical application in this establishment! I mean, honestly, all that bustling with measuring everything! That makes clients very uncomfortable, so we here decided to be done with it." Rosa replied while continuing to grab clothes. the pile designated for Harry began growing and growing. Harry looked at it grow and grow with more and more dread. "Am I expected to fit them all? he asked quite incredulous. "Well, at least 10 of them. Once we have seen how you look in the different materials and colors, we can narrow it down. Go on, the fitting chamber and mirror is in the back." Rosa handed Harry 5 different robes and sent him off.

Harry fitted them one by one. Light colors were out if the question, since it clashed with his hair and bright emerald eyes. The itchy woolen inner lining and the slippery inner satin were out for Harry as well, where as the old man grew in love with satin and vowed to return for more robes for himself. Only one for today was possible. He wanted to walk out in the dark blue one.

In the end, Harry had several shirts, made of silk and polyester-cotton, which he found the most comfortable materials, in the colors dark red, dark purple, dark blue and black. The shirts also held several animal prints. 4 pants for under his robes, 2 black, 2 blue, 5 thin robes for inside the house or warm summer days, and 5 thick, double lined robes for the colder days. He also had 2 cloaks, 1 black and 1 dark blue, with water-repelling charms, for use as coats, even in the most haughty of weather.

Rosa had to redirect them for their special request for the potions maker robes, as well as shoes. as such they were now in a little shop called 'Conny Conway's Creative Clothing', where they were greeted by Conny Conway herself. Since the old man still had some good potion robes, he asked for tailor-made, non-magical, sturdy robes that could hold potion spills. Since most potion makers used dragonhide robes for their magical repellant ability, this was an unusual request. Conny told them about the muggle material called 'Kevlar' which was used by most muggle military for their sturdiness, and thourough testing indicated the different composites in the robes didn't repell the magic in potions, but more likely guided the magic to the ground, dissipating it harmlessly. Since most magical users don't like the idea of magical currents in their clothes (which of course was a great overestimate of the imagination of said magical users) the Kevlar robes weren't very good going.

2 Kevlar robes in a grey tone with an accompanying set of shoes took care of that. The price was expensive, however: the robes were a staggering 75 Galleons a piece and the shoes another 30. Harry asked for another pair, as he found them very comfortable. They looked like army boots, since they were modelled after them. After that, 1 set of magically comforted sneakers and Harry was set with his clothing. The potion maker robes and shoes would be delivered in 2 weeks time, since there was a lot of work involved in making them.

.-.-.

Harry and his master walked out of Conny Conway's' and Harry's loud rumbling stomach made them go towards a little restaurant to eat a meal. It was, after all, already half past 1.

They took their time to eat and an hour later, they were on their way to shop some more. The street was now a lot more crowded, making a nice and cheerful happening of the street. Next stop, books. Since most books weren't in the small store, since school curriculum books were usually ordered from the Diagon Alley 'Floorish and Blots', the old man selected a few books on subjects that would be handy to know next to what he would be studying in school, if he wasn't busy making new friends. several books on arithmacy and ancient runes, as well as history of the magical world, and not only the wizarding world.

The next stop would be the small menagerie. On the way, the old man explained to Harry the use of an owl in the wizarding world, and the need of some wizards to bond with a certain animal, which made it their familiar. Familiars, as the word says, are, when bonded, usually considered to be part of the bonded's family, so harming a familiar could be considered a direct assault on the bonded.

Inside, there was an expanded room far bigger than the oudside would give away. 'Magic at its best, I guess' Harry thought. There were different kinds of owls, toads, cats, ravens, snakes, well, you get the picture. Harry was looking around a bit awestruck. It was quite rowdy in there for someone who can understand snakes, since they were discussing lively. Though there was one animal sticking out to Harry. normally, you would look over i quite quickly, since its greyish feathers wouldn't be noticable in the dingy shadow-filled glass cabinet the bird was held. Harry walked straight up to the kabinet and began observing. The bird took notice of its observer while the shopkeeper was discussing with the old man about what would be the most non-descript and effective messenger bird. The bird looked into Harry's eyes, and Harry felt magic at work. Unknown to Harry, his eyes turned from the vibrating emerald to a reflective silver, making the bird blink her dark green eyes.

**APPROVED**

Harry was mesmerised by the sleek shape of the bird with its relatively long neck and razorsharp beak, combined with short paws that seemed to have a set of razorsharp talons as well.

"NO! Don't look into it's eyes! you'll end up paralysed!" the shopkeeper intervened by shouting and tossing a black cover over the kabinet. "Good, I was just in time. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left off the cover. How can I help you, young sir?"

"Harry was a bit pertubed about the fact he couldn't see the bird anymore, but his choice was made. "Excuse me, but what kind of bird is that?" Harry asked the shopkeeper very bluntly. "It's a botched up experiment by some fool dark wizard who thought he could combine phoenix and a basilisk. Lunacy I tell you! He thought he could create a creature like a basilisk with wings. Its size is nowhere near it, so he thought the experiment failed. He had some records of a few of its ablilities though. It could paralyze a person with a glance, not kill as a true basilisk can, but it can't carry extreme loads like a phoenix, nor can it flame away. He believed the thing could travel very fast, though, as letters that were sent with it, always ended up shredded unless you put an unbreakable charm and inflammable charm on the envelope. Besides that, it's not even a carnivore, but a herbivore. It was captured about 2 months ago and believed to be about 1.5 years old. But I'm trailing off here. Your guardian here told me you were looking for a pet owl, so you could send letters back and forth? Our owls are more up front-"

"Don't bother, I want this one. What's the name for it?" Harry interrupted the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was shocked into silence. Harry, taking advantage of that, ripped off the black cover and looked upon the mesmerising bird once again, which returned his gaze unrelented. Then, it sang a few notes. It sounded like a hissed version of a phoenix song. To the shopkeeper it sounded mightily creepy and gave him chills across his back, but both Harry and the old man could vaguely understand a few words of the melodious hissing. _"...get... here... out... be... companion... out..."_ Needless to say, both Harry and the old man were very surprised. Before any other could respond, Harry already had spoken in parceltongue: -s- Don't worry, beautiful bird, I'll get you out offf thisss cage. -s- and Harry removed the cover of the cabinet. The bird immediately flapped its wings and scratched open harry's forehead over his scar and dipped her beak into the pooled blood, after which the scratch, which was a vertical line across the scar, became part of the scar, making it look like a triangular infinity loop. (or figure 8, or rectangular hourglass, or whatever suits you)

The bird landed on Harry's left shoulder after thrilling "_I'm sorry, but that was necessary to bond with you. This will make you understand me better. It is not often you encounter a snake-speaker with a good heart and supported by magic."_

Harry turned towards the old man, whom had his wand pointed very threateningly towards the bird and was positively radiating magic.

Harry immediately put up his arms to protect the bird. "NO! Don't shoot! He only bonded with me, so I could understand him. Don't worry about it."

The old man looked sceptical for a moment, before slowly putting his wand towards the shopkeeper. "Obliviate." He then stowed away his wand. Harry looked confused. The old man asked the shopkeeper "How much for this bird? It seems my ward has made his choice quite forcefully."

The shopkeeper blinked away the haziness and said: "Right! Costs! Well, it is a unique bird, quite high in maintenance, but I do need to get rid of it. How about 50 Galleons?" The old man snorted "I could buy 10 owls for that! And you said you wanted to get rid of it since it was so high-maintenance! I'll give you 10."

The shopkeeper, not about to be outdone, replied "Certainly not! However much I want to get rid of it, I still have invested a decent paycheck in this bird. At least 35!"

Harry, catching on, said "Well, since he's now bonded to me, I could walk away without repercussions, free of charge, since if you take her back, you'd be taking away my familiar, which is severely frowned upon. 15 Galleons."

The shopkeeper bristled at the insinuation. "None the less, you bonded with this bird while it still was in my custody! I want money for the upkeep. 25 Galleons!" he said.

The old man began radiating a little magic once again and said: "20 Galleons. No more. It's bonded now, and even then, a herbivore's food isn't expensive. 20 Galleons."

Relunctantly, the shopkeeper agreed. "Fine. 20 Galleons it is. But don't come back if it isn't satisfactory! I don't do bonded creatures." The old man paid, and Harry was underway with his master and new companion at his side. Since it was already four o'clock by now, they headed back to the forest while agreeing that they would pick up the rest of the books and his wand at Diagon Alley when he was more instructed in proper society basics so he wouldn't make a fool out of himself in a very big crowd, as Diagon Alley was most likely going to be packed.

When they reached the end of the little street, the small entertainment shop came in view, and Harry's eyes looked upon a single broom that was on a pedestalled cushion. A little nametag said it was the 'Silverbolt', the crown jewel of the ARF Sports Company. It was also their last broom, since 15 years back, they had a legal dispute with the Nimbus&Drag Broom Company over several propulsion and balance enchantment patents, which Nimbus purposely dragged out, so eventually, ARF had to give up due to financial trouble. Since then, the Nimbus series came on the market and outperformed most if not all competitors.

The design and the wood with silver accents made it look magnificent. Harry went into the shop like a man posessed and questioned any and all information on the broom, and any brooms of thesame series. The old man whistfully thought back about his times, where people designed their own brooms to compete in races and quidditch games. 'I guess I have a suitable birthday present now...' he thought as Harry exited the shop with several pamphlets and a book on all brooms of the ARF Sports Company. By this time, it was a quarter before five. They finally set out to the forest once more, for dinner, etiquette and sleep.

.-.-.

For 2 weeks, Harry learned as much as he could from the old man about acceptable behaviour amongst the masses, in formal occasions and at the dinner table. "A beast knows how to eat. A man knows how to eat with the utensils meant for use at the dinner table, but only a proper man can do it gracefully, and a Potions Creator such as yourself should be as graceful at the dinner table as behind a cauldron." Needless to say, Harry put a lot of effort in it, because not being graceful behind a cauldron was the primary cause for botched up potions due to mistakes in measurements.

When the new kevlar robes and boots came, Harry was surprised by the logo on the left breast: it was his master's personal logo, proof of his apprenticeship. The fact that it was placed on his left breast, meant his master considered him ready for mastery. The logo, being a red snake in an S shape behind a gleaming silver dagger, where the head of the snake was resting on the handle of the dagger, stood out on the grey robes. Of course, the fact it was moving occasionally, didn't help concealing it either.

The arrival of the robes signalled the time for a Diagon Alley trip. "Arrow! Let's go! We're going to Diagon Alley!" Harry called to his feathered companion. Harry gave her the name 'Arrow' after witnessing the speed with which she could move: she was like a streaking arrow. "_You go with the oldtimer, I'll find you._" Arrow replied in her hissing song.

"Diagon Alley is further than the shopping street we went to 2 weeks ago, so we'll need to apparate, since I don't have a connection to the Floo network. Meaning, I'll take you along with Side-Along-Apparition. It'll feel like being sucked through a rubber tube. Ready?" the old man asked Harry. Harry nodded. "Now, don't try to fight my magic trying to guide you, since it WILL have spectacularly wrong results if you do. Here we go."

With that, the old man grabbed Harry's shoulder while Harry closed his eyes in anticipation and they both disappeared with a loud 'pop'.

Harry felt like being wringed through a rubber tube and after he heard a 'pop', he opened his eyes to see an old door with a sign above it saying "Leaky Cauldron".

"We have to move through here to get to the gateway of Diagon Alley. Follow me." the old man said. Since both he and Harry were wearing plain black robes, they were rather non-descript. They moved through the dingy pub to the back, where a stone brick wall was waiting for them. Harry was about to ask what they were doing here when the old man tapped a few bricks in quick succession with his wand, after which Harry witnessed the opening of Diagon Alley for the first time, and the sight amazed him.

Bustling around were hundreds of witches and wizards! they were carrying cages with owls, bookbags filled with new books, and shopping bags the size of handheld purses, undoubtedly holding shrunken clothing, as the bags carried the same logo, the logo that was proudly displayed at 'Madam Malkin's Clothing For Every Occasion'. The shops all were large, with most of them at least having 4 full-length display windows.

"Let's get to Floorish and Blots first, so we have the books out of the way." the old man said after which he brusquely walked over to the crowded book shop. Once inside, Harry was glad he didn't have to go through the enormous shop to find his books, since the books for Hogwarts were all on displays in front. Harry gathered his books as quickly as possible. The big crowd also made it very noisy. Harry walked up to his master and the old man paid for the books at the counter. Once outside, the old man said "Thank goodness that's over, I really dislike crowds. Let's go get you your wand, since at Hogwarts, you're expected to have one. Just don't slouch on your wandless and don't let anyone know about your wandless."

The slightly dusty interior of Ollivander's combined with the poorly lit rows and rows of shelves filled with rectangular boxes housing wands made the shop give off an eery feel. After hearing a slight shuffle behind them, the two visitors turned to stare into the face of an even older looking man. "Good morning, mister Potter, I was wondering when I would see you here. I would have expected you here even before your brother, but I guess even I can make wrong assumptions. I'm mr. Ollivander by the way." Ollivander turned towards the old man. "I don't recognise your wand, good sir. Might I ask where you acquired such a beautiful example?" The old man's wand really was a piece of work. A silver handle, 14" black Berch polished up to the point where it shimmered with a Unicorn tail hair as core, seeped in the owner's blood as the final bonding and amplifier means. "You woudn't recognise it, since it was one of your predecessor's wands. It chose me after I came across it in my family's vault."

Ollivander smiled. "Yes, my grandfather did do some custom works for certain high-standing families on request back in the days. Now, everything has to be registered with the Ministry of Magic. I see it still suits you well. Now, let's get young mister Potter here his wand, shall we?"

Ollivander walked towards a few shelves and picked up several boxes. "Let's start with these, shall we?" 12" Yew, Dragon Heartstring. "No, not good." Ollivender took away the wand. 13" Oak, Unicorn tail hair. "No, definitely not." 11" Holly, Thestral claw. "Give it a wave, then."

Harry waved, and a vase with flowers in it blasted apart with great force. "No, still not right, however close it may be. Perhaps... oh why not, it might suit you." Ollivander mumbled after taking away the holly 11" wand.

Ollivander handed Harry another wand. Just as Harry was about to wave it, Arrow came through the door, which was still open due to the pleasant weather of the day. She played a loud tone. "_Where have you been? I've been looking for you the past half hour! Don't do that to me again!" _With that, Arrow landed on Harry's shoulder, cuffing him with a wing. Ollivander, mesmerised by the unknown bird, grabbed the wand Harry was holding. A little splinter on the wand pierced Harry's finger, smearing a trail of Harry's blood over the wand. From the wand, there came phoenix's song for a moment, after which the wand glowed up for a brief second, before dimming. Ollivander, brought out of his daze by the wand's reaction, cursed his own carelessness. "Well mr. Potter, since the wand accepted your blood, it is now yours. Truly strange..."

Harry wanted to know what was so strange, so he asked Ollivander. "Well, the phoenix that gave the feather for your wand, gave 2 other feathers, though those were tailfeathers. Yours is a head feather. it also came in about a year back, while the others were in my posession for over 60 years. 13" Holly, Phoenix head feather. Be careful with what you do with this one. Temperamental, and very powerful, or very harmless. Very curious. 7 Galleons for the wand, please." The old man was watching Ollivander when he mentioned the wand's properties. 'Holly with Phoenix _head _feather? Is he insane? that's more of a block than it is an amplifier. Well, we'll just have to figure a way out of that problem when it becomes unmanagable. For now, it should be a tremendous aid in magical control, which is needed for more advanced wandless magic...' the old man thought.

Each in their own thoughts, walked out of Ollivanders and went back to the apparition point just outside the Leaky Cauldron. Just in time too, if you had to believe the screams of the crowd: "It's the Boy-Who-Lived!" "It's the Potters!" "Maybe we can get an autograph!" "Corvin! Give me your child!"

Harry looked back over his shoulder to see two people standing in the middle of a crowd: one parent and child from the looks of it. The parent was all too familiar. 'Oh yes, my 'great Father', who saw fit to try and obliviate me.' Harry thought. The boy looked a bit chubby, head held high, almost like he needed to put his nose above the rest of the people. His hair was short, making it stand out in all directions. together with his hazel colored eyes and big smile on his face, he was basking in the attention. 'My brother, the supposed 'Boy-Who-Lived'. Are you worth all that attention, Corvin? Or are you just another prat?' Harry questioned himself. After one last impassive look in their general direction, Harry sped up to catch up with his master.

.-.-.

"Harry, do you have all of your things packed? We'll have to go towards King's Cross in half an hour." the old man said from the potions lab/kitchen where he was finishing some bone regrowth potion.

"Yes, I've got everything packed. I've even got breakfast already, some of the leftovers of last night. Can we go early? I want to be there before the masses reach the station." Harry answered. 'Ah, a healthy need for a calm environment. Good.' the old man thought. "Very well. then I'll clean up this potion and we'll be off, give me 5 minutes."

10 minutes later, master and apprentice reached King's Cross station, and walked through the magical barrier between platform 9 and 10, reaching the great scarlet train, named the Hogwarts Express. "And there it is. The Hogwarts Express, to make some contact with your fellow student before you enter the school. A brilliant idea, initiated about 250 years ago. Go on, and see if you can make some friends. That's an order, from a master to his apprentice. You should enjoy your time amongst your peers, and learn the joys of friendship and the mysteries of the castle that will be your home for the coming 10 months. Do write me, since I am quite interested in your progress as a student." the old man said to Harry with a big smile on his face.

Harry, on the other hand, began to grow nervous, and began excersises to calm his emotions, as he was taught when learning the Tongue of Emotions. After being sufficiently calmed down, Harry went into the train, towards one of the middle compartments. Since it was 10.30, and the train would leave at 11.00, he found an empty compartment. Once there, he enlarged his trunk and fished out a book to read. It was 'Arithmacy, a beginner's Guide'. Soon enough, Harry's perception was closed off to the rest of the world, as engrossed he was into the book. The train lurched, signalling the departure. Harry looked up from his book and if he wasn't elated due to the interesting contents of the book, he would've jumped 10 feet into the air. There were 3 people sitting in the compartment with him.

"Ahh, so he actually lives. Wonderful." Came the carcastic comment from the Black-haired girl that sat straight across him. She reached out her hand. Harry reached out his. "Blaise Zabini. Pleasure." she said, while giving a single shake before releasing again. "Harry Potter." Harry replied. The redhead right next to Blaise almost began jumping up and down. "OOH! Are you related to Corvin Potter? He's the Boy-Who-Lived! He's my hero! Oh, how rude, I'm Daphne Greengrass, by the way. Well, are you?" Daphne asked impatiently.

"Well, yes. We're brothers, but I'm not going into my life's story, since I don't know you good enough yet." Harry replied, a little disturbed by the enthusiasm of the girl. Harry then focussed his attention to the boy next to him, which was looking around the compartment, as well as his trunk.

"And who might you be?" Harry inquired. "Oh. Sorry, my name is Neville. Neville Longbottom." They shook hands.

"Have any of you seen my toad? His name is Trevor, and I can't seem to find him in my trunk. He probably ran off again..." Neville asked uncertainly.

"A toad? Why a toad? Owl's are much better, since they can deliver messages as well as being a nice fluffy pet." Blaise asked. Arrow chose that moment to pipe up with his unusual song. Since Arrow was curled up into a shadowy corner of the racks where the trunks were lying on, she wasn't noticed yet. She flew up to Harry's shoulder, where Harry's hand came up and began stroking her underbelly.

"OOH! Wow! That's a beautiful bird! What's his name? What species is it? I've never seen anything like that before. Does it have any special abilities?" Daphne exploded into questions again, making Neville scoot further back into the couch, and making Blaise shoot out a hand to the back of Daphne's head. "Ouch! What was that for?" Daphne asked Blaise. "You were babbling again. most people are content with answering one question at a time, you know?" Sarcasm dripping off the end. Daphne sighed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry! Can't help it sometimes. Especially when I see something that interests me! Then I need to know everything I want to know as fast as possible and I'm prone to ask al- OUCH!" Blaise hit Daphne again, interrupting another monologue. Daphne glared at Blaise, while Harry and Neville had to surpress a smile. "I'm going to look for my toad now. Maybe I'll see you when we're at school.." Neville trailed off. Blaise raised a delicate brow. "Oh? and you plan to leave your stuff on the train? You'll have to come back to fetch your trunk before we enter school, you know." she said. Neville nervously said "Oh yeah... Well, I have to find Trevor now. See you." And Neville left. "Kind of slow, isn't he? I mean, cmon! dumping his stuff here, and then leaving them! And he has a toad! A toad of all th- OUCH! Will you stop that!" Blaise had hit Daphne again. It seemed Blaise and Daphne knew eachother longer than just today. "Keep those thoughts to yourself, Daphne. You know Longbottom's story." Blaise commented. Daphne looked suitably ashamed. "Oh yeah." she said. She did perk up immediately afterwards. "You didn't answer me about your bird! Tell us!" Daphne said towards Harry.

Harry shifted uncomfortably under the enthusiastic gaze of the redhead."Well, her name is Arrow, and she's my Familiar-" "OOH! A Familiar at such a young age! you must be powerful! Nothing less from the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived! I bet Corvin has a Familiar too!" Daphne interrupted. Harry's eyes darkened slightly at being compared to his brother. Blaise noticed. "Anyways, I haven't known her for that long, so I don't know about any special gifts yet." Harry lied. 'I can't very well tell them she is a cross between a Basilisk and Phoenix and can petrify people with a glance if she so wishes. It's a good thing I've make plenty of anti-petrification potions...' Harry thought.

Arrow sang a bit once again. "_One noisy, inquisitive female, and one quiet, sarcastic female. Good choise of... company._" she said. Harry turned towards Arrow, slightly blushing. "What do you mean, good choise? It's not as if I picked them to be my girlfriends!" Harry exclaimed.

"_Hahaha! You do realise you said that out loud, don't you?_" Arrow sang. Harry blushed even further and looked towards the two girls across him. "Sorry." he apologised, "Arrow said you were good choises of... company in such a way in suggested... you know."

"Don't expect us to jump into your lap just because you're the brother of the famous Boy-Who-Lived!" Blaise sneered. Daphne just looked away. "I'm not some gloryhound! If I were, I'd be bragging about everything, now would I? I apologised for my outburst, no need to put me down any more because of it, thank you very much." Harry replied heatedly. 'They do make me lose my 'cool' pretty fast...' Harry thought. Daphne interrupted once again. "Let's play Exploding Snap! It's a cool game!" She rummaged amongst her stuff in her trunk and fished out a deck of cards. Blaise relunctantly agreed. "What's Exploding Snap?" Harry asked uncertainly. The two girls turned towards Harry with incredulous looks.

"You don't know? OOH! We'll teach you! You must've lived in the middle of nowhere to not know Exploding Snap!" Daphne exclaimed.

Both girls didn't notice the uncomfort of Harry at that statement while Daphne explained the rules and Blaise added her nice sarcasm from time to time. Harry ordered a little bit from everything when the trolly lady came past, and both girls only ate a slice of pumpkin pie and a few All Flavor Beans before declining the rest, saying it wasn't good for their line. They resumed their Exploding Snap marathon, and Harry became better with it every game. In the end, when the announcement of 5 minutes left came, they hurriedly threw on some school robes over their current clothing, before grabbing their trunks. "Built-in shrinking-charm." Harry replied when he shrank his trunk in front of them and they looked at him strangely. They accepted it and Harry helped them haul their trunks out of the compartment.

Someone with a badge that looked like a 'P' came over and said "Don't bother to haul your trunks around. The House Elves of Hogwarts will bring them up to your dormitories later on." he said. With a bit of grumbling, the trio tossed the two trunks back into the compartment and walked towards the big man with a lantern that was yelling "First years, over here!"

They were directed over to a shore of a big lake, where a lot of little boats were docked at a narrow wooden dock, illuminated by several lanterns in the dark nightly sky, since it was already very late. Due to the dark, you couldn't see much over the lake, only a small silouette in the distance.

"OK! No more tha' 4 people per boa'! Come on, we don' have all day anymore, you lot!" the big man's voice boomed over the crowd of firsties.

"Everybody seated? Well then, let's GO!"

On 'go', the boats started moving silently over the lake along the treeline. It was very dark where the trees that hung over blocked the moonlight, and the big man that was apparently controlling the boats was the only one with extra light. When they turned around the bend, Hogwarts Castle came into view.

"Whoa..." was the common response for the imposing sight of the dark silouette with rows upon rows of lights signalling the windows. The towers on each corner of the castle were lit up as beacons giving a warm, welcoming glow.

"Heads down everyone!" came the voice of the big man, snapping most, if not all, out of their reverie. When the boats went under the overhanging growth, they docked on their own seemingly. Everybody got off and gathered by the big oak double doors, which were opened by an older, brown-haired witch with her hair tied up into a bun. The stern expression on the witch's face gave the impression of a strict professor.

"The Firs' Years for ya, Professor McGonnagall." said the big man to the stern witch.

"Thank you, Hagrid." was the reply. "Now, form 2 lines next to eachother so we can move towards the Great Hall in an orderly fashion. Well? What are you waiting for?"

The new students hurriedly made 2 lines and followed Professor McGonnagall towards another big double door. "Now, you children shall wait untill we in the Great Hall are ready to receive you for your sorting." With that, the stern witch moved through the doors and left the new students in anticipation.

Immediately, hushed conversation started since nobody dared to speak under the scrutiny of McGonnagall. Theories of knowledge tests or full-scale duels to determine your house came up.

More and more radical theories came until several ghosts came flying through the walls, discussing grimly. "I'm telling you, Peeves has gone too far now! He'll be banished for this!" a thin ghost with medieval clothing and a big collar told a friar. "Nonsense, I don't think Dumbledore will allow it. I mean, look at his dealings with giving people second chances! I believe he'll get away with this and only have a small admonishing."

Before they could continue their discussion, the friar noticed the children. "Oh! New First Year students! I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff!" the ghost said enthusiastically. Before there was any chance to reply to that statement, the doors opened once again, showgin the entirety of the Great Hall, with its four House Tables and enchanted ceiling. Once again, Professor McGonnagall sternly looked down upon the children and said: "Follow me into the Great Hall. When I call upon your name, you can approach the stool to receive your House from the Sorting Hat." A lot of relieved sighs came from the group, making the stern professor smile, however small that smile was. 'The imagination always leads to frightening sorting stories. I wonder what was the most famous one this year.' McGonnagall thought.

When all First Years were inside the Great Hall, the Sorting Hat began singing his song.

When the song ended, McGonnagall began the roll call for the Sorting Ceremony. Harry was mesmerised by the many people in the Hall, the difference in the persons sitting at the Head Table, and the beautiful ceiling that showed the night sky. He was jolted however, when McGonnagall called "Potter, Corvin!" Harry saw Corvin for the second time since he was left at the Dursley's. Corvin strolled full of confidence up to the stool under the excited whispering of the student body and McGonnagall placed the Hat on him. Several minutes went by where Corvin's face changed several shades. When the Hat finally exclaimed "GRYFFINDOR!" a big sigh of relief came and the Gryffindor table cheered and chorusses of "We got Potter!" came along. When the Table calmed down again, McGonnagall was slightly surprised to see the next name as was seen on her face. "Potter, Harry!" She called.

Immediately, more excited whispering came and Harry made his way across the center isle. His expression was blank as Harry was doing all he could to calm his raging nerves. When he sat down, the Hat covered his eyes and his world went black.

TBC

Well, ain't I annoying. I didn't feel like doing a complete sorting including a song, so read the book for that.

Seeya next time.


	3. Chapter 3

His Life

Chapter 03

"Well, well. The Lost Potter, I see... Now, where to put you... Ahh, that is a nice way of protecting your thoughts, mr. Potter. Now don't worry, everything I see will not leave my hat, since I'm not made to remember. Let's see... Plenty of courage, dear lord yes. To go up against a fully grown Basilisk and live. Gryffindor would not reject you. A Parseltongue! Master Slytherin would be very pleased to have such a pure-hearted person under his representation. And your quest for knowledge is remarkable as well. Your studious nature would make you fit in with Ravenclaw just fine. And your hard work on your Potions Mastery is definitely worthy of any Hufflepuff. Now where to put you... You don't have the right 'at-all-cost' mentality for Slytherin, so that's out of the question. Your contact with other people is thusly limited I'm almost afraid to put you in Hufflepuff, since you like your solitude quite regularly, and solitude is something you will not find much in the House of the Badger... Now Gryffindor would welcome you for your bravery any time, and your studious nature with your need for sollitude would not be frowned upon by the Ravenclaw House members. Which would you prefer, mr. Potter?"

Harry couldn't get a word in with the old Hat, since it was on a words stampede, so when the question came, Harry was surprised from the sudden silence. "Oh, wait, you wanted an answer." Harry said out loud. 'Hmm. Gryffindor for their courage and outgoing mentality sounds very appealing and making friends shouldn't be too hard there. Then again, I don't feel up to a confrontation with my brother just yet. Next to that, the Ravenclaw's study habits might just be up my creek, and besides, nobody forbade to make friends outside your own House.' Harry thought.

"Indeed, mr. Potter. That is one of the things I would like to see some day. Inter-House friendships. They don't appear much these days due to the animosity brought by the last evil bringer." Harry was surprised that his thoughts were picked up so easily. "Don't worry, mr. Potter, I can only evaluate somebody's mind when this person is to be sorted, and then only when I'm correctly placed on the head of said person. So your thoughts are as secure as always. I see your decision has become-"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table cheered for their new addition. Harry put the Hat back on the stool and moved towards the Ravenclaw table.

(A/N: you guys know the sorting drill. I might or might not make up some names as I go, but I'll see where we end up. This is, after all, an AU story)

Here, Harry mingled with his year-mates from Ravenclaw, which were surprisingly few. Terry Boot and Michael Turner were the boys and Padma Patil, Lisa Turpin and Melissa Moon were the girls. Overall, Hufflepuff got 10 new members, Ravenclaw 6, Gryffindor 10 as well and Slytherin 8.

After dinner, and the unusual announcement of the forbidden 3rd floor corridor, A Ravenclaw prefect named Penelope Clearwater rounded up the first years.

"Ok, First Years, follow me. We are going towards the Ravenclaw Common Room and adjacent dorms. Follow me and don't trail behind, since you can get easily lost in this big castle." Penelope said. After that, she turned around and walked out the Great Hall, with the Firsties following like cheek would a mother hen. The location of the Ravenclaw Common Room was reinforcing the prejudice of Ravenclaw being studious. The Guarding portrait was a librarian, with a big hunchback and giant glasses, sitting on the ladder sports of the ladder used to browse the higher shelves. Next to the fact that the library was about 2 corridors away, which was graciously pointed out by Penelope.

"Password?" The Librarian in the portrait asked of Penelope. "Password." Penelope said, after which, the Librarian smiled. Then, you'd expect the portrait to swing open as a door. Well, no. The section of wall left of the portrait began to move like the portal towards Diagon Alley, after which there was a regular door.

"Now, before you enter, all of you must place your hand on the door and state your name and year, so you will be keyed in to the door. When today's over, the door will not open to those that are not keyed into the door. We ravenclaws value our privacy very much, unlike some other houses whom believe in the goodness of 'Late-Night-Party-Until-The-Head-Of-House-Breaks-It-Up' for all invited to attend." Penelope had a look of disdain on her face saying that. One by one, the First Years held their hand onto the door and stated their name and year, and a vague glue glow enveloped the door. Then they opened the door, walking into the Common Room. It had a soft, burgundy red carpet over the floor, with sky-blue walls with bronze accents. There was a roaring fire in the big fireplace, with several comfortable seats, which all had wide armrests with retractable little tables, to place your books on when you wanted to study. Also, there was a row of mirrors lining the ceiling, which reflected the light of the big fireplace to reach every corner of the Common Room. There were also several round tables about knee high with cushions surrounding them for group studies or comfortable socialising.

"Ok, the right door leads to the boys' dorms, and the first door on your right when you enter. please repeat the same procedure on this door as you did outside. The left door goes towards the girls' dorms, first door on your right for the First Year dorm." Penelope said when she entered after the last Firsty was in.

"Do we have to repeat the key-in procedure every time we want to enter the Common Room?" Harry asked, not familiar with key-in procedures and thinking of them like a muggle lock, where you need the key every time to unlock it. "No, once you're keyed in, you're keyed in for the rest of the year. When people are returning from the Christmas holidays, they have to key-in again, since the door is automatically reset at the beginning of a new year, or a new schoolyear. Now, if that is all, feel free to look around the Common Room and ask any senior for advice or answers. I have to go and turn in my summer assignments, so if you'll excuse me..." With that, Penelope walked towards the girls' dorms and came out with a stack of parchment a few minutes later, while all firsties were still looking around in the large Common Room.

Harry was tired, and the sheets for the timetables of the classes weren't goign to be handed out until tomorrow morning at breakfast. It seemed this was the general thought of the First Year Ravenclaws as they all headed towards their dorms without saying much. When Harry, Terry and Michael entered, there were 3 beds, 2 of which had trunks in front of them. The dorms were a dark blue, with the beds on the far side, opposite the door. There was a small fireplace on the left, with 3 seats and a small study table in front of it, and on the right side, there was a big window overlooking the grounds. Next to the window, there were several bookcases to store whatever deemed necessary. Several books already lined 2 shelves. Titles like 'Jinxes and Hexes explained' and 'Power behind the flick: proper wand movement' and even 'Magic: Inner Balance'. All books seemed to be there for reference purpose, since most were thick tomes pushing 1000 or even 2000 pages.

The beds all were 4 poster beds with large curtain drabs all around. The trunkless bed was on the right, next to the window. Terry's was in the middle and Michael's on the left, in the corner.

Next to the small fireplace, on the left of it actually, was a door leading to the bathroom, where there was a small kabinet for each of the inhabitants. The bathroom was quietly initiated. The three boys were spent. Harry unshrunk his trunk and put it in front of his bed after pulling out his PJ's. "How did you do that, Potter? I didn't see you use a spell there...' Terry asked Harry trailing of at the end of the sentence.

"Built-in option of the trunk." Harry answered after looking at Terry for a few seconds, unnerving the latter. No questions were asked any further and curtains were pulled shut.

-.-.-

They received their schedules at breakfast the next morning:

**Shedule for: Ravanclaw 1st Year Students**

_Monday:_

_8.30 - 11.00 Double Transfiguration (Gryffindor)_

_12.30 - 13.30 Charms (Gryffindor)_

_14.30 - 15.30 History of Magic (Slytherin)_

_Tuesday:_

_8.30 - 11.00 Double Defence Against the Dark Arts (Hufflepuff)_

_12.30 - 14.00 Double Herbology (Slytherin)_

_Wednesday:_

_8.30 - 11.00 Double Charms (Gryffindor)_

_12.30 - 13.30 Potions (Hufflepuff)_

_14.30 - 15.30 History of Magic (Slytherin)_

_Thursday:_

_8.30 - 9.30 Defence Against the Dark Arts (Hufflepuff)_

_12.30 - 13.30 Transfiguration (Gryffindor)_

_23.00 - 1.00 Astronomy (Slytherin)_

_Friday:_

_12.30 - 14.00 Double Potions (Hufflepuff)_

_Saturday_

_12.30 - . Basic Wizarding Transportation / Broom (Hufflepuff)_

Harry read his schedule intently, noting it was somehow glowing an almost unnoticable blue, but shrugged it off. 'I have a double charms upcoming then, since it's wednesday morning.' Harry was brought out of his musing when the voice of his Head of House came up.

"Dear Ravenclaw 1st Years, please note that these schedules are charmed to be actual, so any changes in the schedule are on the schedule when they are confirmed. It is thusly important to keep this schedule for the rest of the year as a roster for the upcoming week, at any time of the week actually, hahaha." Professor Flitwick said in his high-pitched voice.

Typical Ravenclaw inquisitiveness reared its head and Terry asked professor Flitwick: "Professor, are the timetables going to be updated when we move on to Second Year?"

"No, don't be afraid of that. You will be issued a new timetable at the beginning of next year." Flitwick leaned more into the small crowd of the six Firsties and said: "Between us, I don't understand why my colleague Heads of House don't charm the timetables for their students the same way, but let's let them figure it out for themselves, ok? They have yet to find out in the 23 years I have been Head of House Ravenclaw."

The Firsties nodded and had small grins on their faces. They were early in their breakfast undertaking, in the idea of being on time in their first class, as well as being able to do some exploring.

-.-.-

The exploring was a big failure, since they got lost. They decided to explore with the six of them, so they wouldn't be alone. They scurried from the Great Hall to the Astronomy tower, as well as the potions dungeons. When they passed the Transfigurations classroom, in the west wing today, Michael was running out of patience. "Those portraits aren't helping anything at all! No matter who we ask for directions in them, we always end up in front of a classroom we don't need to be right now!" he exclaimed. Terry was a bit disgruntled as well. "A map of this place would be very handy..." A portrait of Oscar Overview, famous for his design of the overview spells, which were used to make maps of buildings and stretched-out lands, was sporting a smile. "I see the annual Portrait First Years Ravenclaw Tour is a success this year as well, hmm?" the portrait said, gaining the attention of the 6 Ravenclaws. "By the way, you could try and map this area and building all you want, but the magic will scramble any mapping of the outside, and Lady Hogwarts' sentience, who is responsible for the interior, likes change, so nothing of the layout is permanent. I'm sure you young children have encountered the moving stairways?"

"How would you know such things, mr..." Lisa read the name inscription on the portrait. "... Overview... Oh! You wouldn't be the Overview, of the Overview spell series, wouldn't you?" she piped up, excited. "Why, yes, I am. Coincidentally, I am also a portrait in this building, so I know of her quirkiness. But I see it is almost time. which class are you supposed to have in 10 minutes?" Oscar inquired. Terry cursed. Michael wasn't happy either. Harry was thinking of mapping Hogwarts and what a helpful well of information Oscar Overview would be when doing so and was snapped out of his muse because of Terry's cursing. "We were trying to find the Charms classroom, mr. Overview." Padma timidly replied.

"Oh, you're in luck then, it's right around this corner, end of the corridor, second door on your right after you've turned left. Go on, you don't want to be late for your first class, now would you?" the portrait said, amused. "Thanks, mr. Overview. We'll see you around." Harry said.

-.-.-

The group of First Years reached the Charms classroom with barely 2 minutes to spare. Professor Flitwick was watching them enter the already half-full class. "Well, well, I see the annual tour has kept you busy, hmm? Welcome to my class, in time even! Splendid!" Flitwick said. With that, Flitwick began a lengthy explanation and introduction about charms and their uses, of course with several demonstrations. The hours flew by and before you knew it, Harry's 'specialty' was up: Potions. While they were moving towards the dungeon classroom, of course, after enquiring about the location with the portraits, Harry was bubbling with excitement internally. Lisa and Melissa were discussing the rumors of Professor Snape's bigotry and unmanageable way of teaching and Terry was arguing with Michael about which was more important for potions: the stirring or the temperature. 'The Potions Professor is a certified Master recognized by the guild. Perhaps he has some methods to teach that are up to date. After all, my master isn't very outgoing and set in the way of 'if it works, why change it' so this could be...'

Harry's thought trailed off when he reached the classroom and saw there was no teacher present yet. Harry took a seat at the front, and Padma seated next to him. The rest of the students were trickling in and at 12.30 sharp, the door was slammed shut with a black-haired, tall and thin man, in thick, black robes, who began stalking towards the front.

"There will be no silly wand-waving in this class. For those with the aptitude for this class, I can teach you to brew glory, bottle fame and even put a stopper on death. Those who do not understand the beauty and precision of this course, will be quickly aware of this and should prepare to demonstrate their effort to receive a passable result. My name is Professor Snape. There will be no talking unless spoken to by me, or to relay the next instruction for the potion you're brewing to your partner."

With that, Professor Snape began roll-call and skipped Harry's name until the end.

"Well, well... If it isn't the other Potter. The supposed squib. You probably bought your way into this school, it would be just the method your arrogant father would use..."

Harry didn't react verbally to the insult, but the eyes conveyed enough: disappointment. Somehow, this only infuriated the potions professor. "Tell me, Potter. What would I do with a Bezoar?"

Harry thought for a second. "You swallow it when you're poisoned. It is a general poison nullifier, professor." he answered in a slightly clipped tone. Snape caught the tone. "5 points from Ravenclaw for your cheek, Potter. Again. What kind of potion would I generally brew when I use Fire Salamander eggs?"

Harry reigned in his emotions before responding. "I'm not very familiar with using living potions ingredients with exception to plants, but if I have to hazard a guess, I would have to say a healing potion, professor."

Snape's face contracted into a sneer. "Correct. Again. What potion uses Moonstone as main ingredient and when is it used?"

Harry thought for a moment and came up blank. "I don't know, professor." Harry replied. "Well, well, it seems fame isn't everything. 5 points from Ravenclaw for not being able to answer correctly." Snape said viciously. With a flick of his wand, the blackboard turned over and a list of instructions was seen. "Read the instructions on the blackboard and start brewing. You have until the end of class to finish this fever reducing potion, and you shall be graded. Get working!" And Snape began stalking the classroom as everyone began picking out their potion ingredients and cauldrons. occasionally, a comment from Snape about incorrect preparations with point deductions sounded throughout the near-silent classroom. Harry raised his hand while Padma was busy setting up her cauldron and fishing out the required ingredients. Snape dutifully ignored his hand and continued along the tables. "Harry... um... Shouldn't we begin brewing? I mean, the instructions say we need 40 minutes of brewing for this potion, so we'll need all the time we have for preparing the ingredients." Padma said unsurely. Harry was getting pretty miffed. "I just have one question, which is pretty important to me. I'll help you brew the potion after that, ok?" Harry calmly (as calm as he could anyways) answered. Still getting no reaction from Snape, and Padma beginning to get annoyed and starting on cutting the needed Hornoak roots, Harry had enough. "Professor Snape, do you perchance have a moment to answer my question?" he asked loudly. Snape turned towards Harry. "10 points from Ravenclaw for speaking while not spoken to. What is it you want to ask, or have you suddenly forgotten it and do I have to deduct more points for needlessly interrupting my class?" the potions professor said.

"Professor, I am apprenticed to a Potion Master and was looking forward to being able to learn more recently developed potion brewing techniques. Do you have any time to discuss such a venture after class? And, the real question: I know of a more effective, but simple potion to reduce fever, am I allowed to brew that one instead?" Harry asked as friendly as he could manage after being so harshly rebuked.

Snape gave a biting laugh. "HA! You, apprenticed to a potions master? I can't believe it. It must have been a very lousy potions master to have accepted you."

That effectively baited Harry, since he not only insulted his skills, which he hadn't even seen, but also those of his master, and a Potion Master insulting another Potion Master's skills is a serious offense. In a whisper, Harry replied: "You have no right to speak of my skills that way, as you have not yet seen them. You have no right to speak of my master's skills that way, as I am sure they surpass yours. Now leave me be, and you will be hearing from my master for this transgression. After this lesson, I will not be taking this class under you again." Harry turned towards Padma and asked "What step are you, Padma?" Padma, still in shock over the blatant disrespect of Harry towards a teacher, as was the rest of the class, snapped out of it and didn't dare to watch either professor Snape or Harry, so watched her almost completely cut roots."I-I'm finishing up the cutting of Hornoak roots." Padma slightly stuttered. "Ok, I'll start heating up the cauldron and the brewing, while you prepare the ingredients, is that alright with you?" Harry asked. Padma, still looking towards her desk, feeling the furious gaze of her professor on her answered: "Yes, that's fine." The classroom looked on with baited breath. Snape, furious at being so blatantly disrespected as well as being ignored by Harry, had enough. "20 points from Ravenclaw for your blatant disrespect and a week of detention!" he snarled before turning away and stalking the class once again.

Nearing the end of class, Padma was a wreck under the constant gaze of her professor, and the constant belittlement of her housemates' progress didn't help at all. The potion however, under Harry's expert brewing, turned out almost perfectly textbook example. Snape was reviewing the samples delivered at his desk and stalked over to the finishing potion of Harry and Padma. At seeing the potion, he thought 'So the brat does have some skill. Hmpf. Like it matters.' "The color is off, and your brew is too thin." Snape said. He waved his wand and the cauldron was emptied. "No potion, no grade. 10 points from Ravenclaw each, for not finishing within the alotted time. Now, get out."

Harry was seething with rage. Padma was silently crying. Harry helped Padma with packing and gently steered her out of the classroom. At the door, he turned. "Professor Snape, your conduct is unbecoming of a teacher and Potion Master. As recognized Potion Master, I will try and get your Mastery revoked. Goodbye." Harry turned and began taking a brisk pace to a destination as far removed from the dungeons as possible. As he reached his dormitory, he hissed for his Familiar.

**-s- **Arrow! Are you here? **-s-**

Arrow came flying into the dorm and landed on his shoulder. "_So, how was your first day?_" the avian animal asked.

**-s- **Dreadful, and it hasn't even finished yet. I need to send a letter to the old man back home. Can you deliver it for me? **-s- **

"_Sure, but when I return, I want all the details. You're not easily this upset."_ Harry grabbed some parchment from his bag and wrote a letter to the old man:

_Master,_

_the potion professor at school saw fit to insult my skills as a Potion Creator, as well as the insinuation that you were a lousy Potion Master. I quote: _

_"HA! You, apprenticed to a potions master? I can't believe it. It must have been a very lousy potions master to have accepted you."__ This was before I even started brewing with my partner. At the end of class (in which we were required to brew the non-magic, Headard version of Fever Reducing potion) he saw fit to vanish a whole cauldron of an in my opinion good to very good brew with the comments, and I quote again: __"The color is off, and your brew is too thin."__ There was nothing wrong with both. I have no wish to waste my time and potion ingredients under such tutelage. Do you know of a way out? I might have acted rash by saying that I won't be taking his class again, since it is a required course. Please respond._

_Your Apprentice, Harry Potter._

Harry charmed the letter unbreakable and inflammable (it took him a long time to get the hang of those two charms) and gave it to Arrow. Harry opened the window of the dorm and Arrow was off towards the old man, while he himself headed for History of Magic. He was late, due to being lost, but apparently it didn't matter much, as the ghostly teacher named Professor Binns wasn't very keen to roll call, as well as a drone. Harry had just enough resolve to stay awake and chat with Daphne and Blaise in hushed tones about classes.

-.-.-

The old man was currently brewing another batch of healing potions for St. Mungo's when Arrow came in. "Ah, a letter from the young troublemaker already? it's not even been 2 days..." he said out loud. He opened the letter and with a smile began reading. The smile turned into a frown, which turned into an emotionless mask. The only visible thing about his rage at the implied disrespect was the blowing up of the current batch of potions. He crumpled the letter and tossed it into the bin next to the door.

"Thank you Arrow. I'll... visit... tomorrow. You can return to your bonded since I don't have a return letter. See you tomorrow."

The undertone of anger was obvious, even to the bird. '_Now I can't wait to hear the story from my bonded! this has to be good!'_ Arrow thought and sped off towards Hogwarts again.

-.-.-

As it was breakfast time, almost everybody was in the Great Hall when the doors burst open and an elderly man came striding in. The man stopped in the middle of the hall. The teachers at the Head Table had raised and a few had their wands out. The students were bewildered, as there were no alarms of intrusion, and a stranger was able to just walk into the Great Hall, without consequences. "I'm sorry, but whom might you be, sir?" Headmaster Albus Dumbledore requested in a neutral if not friendly tone.

The elder man smirked. "Who is asking?" he replied.

"Fair enough. My name is Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of this school. And now, might I know your name?" the Headmaster asked again.

"Ah, the Headmaster. Good. Might you point me the man who teaches potions in this fine establishment? He seems to go out of his way to insult my apprentice, and thus, indirectly, my aptitude in a magical skill. I wish to resolve this as quick as possible. Apprentice, approach me, please."

Harry, actually stunned his master came down all the way from the forest to aid him, shook out of his stupor and rose. "Yes, master." Harry replied and moved to stand by the side of his master. Professor Snape sneered and answered for himself. "I am the resident Potions Master. I see Potter managed to attract even worse slime than himself." he spat, gesturing to the filthy-looking travelling cloak of the Potions Master. Several cries of outrage were heard from Corvin Potter for the insult of his family, from the Head Table for the blatant disrespect of a stranger, and from the Headmaster came the stern chiding reply of "Severus! Please. Control yourself."

"No, it's alright, Headmaster. So, Potions Master, do you dare swear on your words and stand by your opinion on myself and my apprentice? Or are those just the words of a shortsighted fool?" the old man directed towards Professor Snape. Snape was positively livid. His skill in Occlumency (defending the mind and controlling your emotions) was failing spectacularly as he was reminded of the cruel pranks James Potter performed on him, just by looking upon the eldest potter brother, since the facial likeness and body build for that age was almost exactly the same. His Occlumency was actually a curse right now, as the image of James Potter in his younger years superimposed over Harry's visage due to the flooding memories. The blood was pounding in Snape's ears after the last question. 'He dares to call me a fool!? I'll show him a fool!'

The warnings spoken by the Headmaster went unheard in the moment. The Great Hall was tense and silent. Everyone wanted to know what would happen next.

Snape's muses were uninterrupted (in his mind at least) and he just burst at the arrogance. "Damn you Potter! You dare to insinuate to know more about potions than me!? That's impossible! No potions master worth his salt would associate with you, let alone teach you sufficient to even be recognized by me! I will make sure the Potions Master's Guild won't ever let you go for Mastery!" Snape yelled at the top of his voice, radiating magic and rage, making all silverware in the hall shudder under the strain, frightening all of the younger years. The Headmaster closed his eyes and thought 'Severus, you foolish boy. Why couldn't you just observe first, like you are used to in your former role as spy... Who knows what honors you have insulted with your careless words.' He sighed. The damage was done.

The old man was angry as well. 'This no good rookie had the guts to insult both my honor and skills in my profession and dares to do the same to my apprentice!' He took a deep breath. 'I can't let my emotions and magic flow so freely here.'

"I see. State your name and rank, potions professor." the old man said in a commanding voice, while pulling out a special parchment: the Potions Master Guild Skills List.

The old man held out the parchment and placed his wand on it. "Apprentice, do the same." he said. Harry drew his wand and touched the parchment and said: "Harry James Potter, Potions Creator with Mastery, 2nd class of the Tradition." The parchment glowed a soft green. Snape saw this and immediately knew he was in deep shit. 'Bloody hell! The Tradition brewing style was thought to be lost! Just what are you, Potter!? And who is your master? Damnit! It's my turn.' "Severus Octavius Snape, Potions Master, 1st class of the Renewal" Snape said while touching the parchment with his wand. Once again, the parchment glowed a soft green. Immediately, a blurry dome came over the three potion makers to secure their words and dealings from the general public, as is customary in Guild affairs.

Since the insult/dispute was between Severus and Harry, the old man could act as mediator, and since Harry was apprenticed to him, he could set the punishment. He knew of the difficulty to find skilled teachers in the art of potions, so he couldn't ban him all-out. A mere insult wouldn't warrant that. He racked his brains over a way to keep the Professor a professor, but still his apprentice out of the class. 'Ah, I know just the way' he thought.

"I, as mediator and master to my apprentice, Harry James Potter, call for punishment under the laws of the Guild. Severus Octavius Snape is to be stripped of his Master status and set back to Adept, 2nd class of the Renewal, for his direct insults of the skills of my apprentice and his indirect insults to my abilities. This I so command, as Potions Master, Master class of the Tradition. With magic as my witness, so mote it be."

The parchment glowed a soft green in recognition of the title claimed, and glowed a bright white to update the List of the changes. Snape had a nasty sneer and a bowed head in defeat. The old man turned towards Snape. "As you are no longer a Master, I will not allow my apprentice under your tutelage. He is to study on his own, and he can choose to approach you to ask for assistance. As Adept, you are still allowed to teach, so there is no fear of losing your job. As the List is Secrecy bound, you have no fear of being discovered in your slight by any non-Guild members. Beware, you are still under observation, so, to be able to retake your Mastery test, you will have to change your way of teaching, and keep your insults to yourself."

As Snape bowed, slightly mind you, the old man turned to Harry. "You will receive your project assignments with suggestions on which books to use in the library by owl in the coming week. Don't slack off, just because you're out of the potions class." "Yes, master." Harry replied formally.

The dome dissipated with a wave from the eldest man of the three.

The old man nodded and turned to the Headmaster. "Thank you for allowing me to conduct Guild matters in this location. Good day." He turned and strode out of the Great Hall in silence, where all students and teachers were baffled by the display they just saw. Luckily, the Potions Master Guild Skills List has an automatic secrecy spell interwoven, so that any spectators cannot speak of Guild matters when there are any people around who have not witnessed the event. This was standardized after a large scale incident, when two Transfiguration Masters came into a dispute, and promptly compared skills to settle the dispute under the Transfiguration Master Guild List, which set the tests. Unfortunately, several muggles witnessed the event. This caused a massive witch-hunt, the famous 'Witch-hunt of Wales'.

As soon as the old man left the great hall, Snape turned towards Harry. "You think you're the most important man in town now, do you?" he sneered. "I'll find a way to bring you down a peg and show the world you're just an arrogant git like your father!" "Severus, please! Get a grip on your emotions, or I will forcibly intervene in this matter! You have had your time to reign in your anger, don't make me do it for you!" the Headmaster sharply intervened with as much authority he could.

This was, of course, quite much.

TBC

Well, well! The old man goes to visit his apprentice! Wonderful! Cliffie! I think...

reviewzzz


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